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Experiments were conducted in an attempt to study the impact of using different organic residues as fertilizers on grain yield, magnitude of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and soil characteristics. Five fertilizer treatments including conventional nitrogen (N) fertilizer, cow manure, rice straw, poultry manure, and sugarcane bagasse were applied in the rice field in 2012. The maximum reduction in seasonal N2O emissions (10–27%) was observed under the influence of rice straw application over conventional N fertilizer. The experiment was repeated for a second season in 2013 with the same treatments for further confirmation of the results obtained during the first year of experimentation. The application of rice straw also showed a slight advantage by increasing grain yield (4.38 t ha−1) compared to control. Important soil properties and plant growth parameters were studied and their relationships with N2O emission were worked out. The incorporation of organic residues helped in restoring and improving the soil health and effectively enhancing grain yield with reduced N2O emission from rice fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]