Proper application of nitrogen fertilizer is vital to improve crop growth and development. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the need based nitrogen management using leaf color chart (LCC) on crop growth and yield of dry direct seeded rice (DDSR) with five nitrogen management practices {0 kg N ha^-1, 120 kg N ha^-1 in three equal split applications, 30 kg N ha^-1 as basal + 30 kg N ha^-1 top dressing based on LCC critical value four, 30 kg N ha^-1 top dressing (without basal N dose) at 15 days after sowing (DAS) + LCC based N application and pure LCC (without basal N dose) based N application} tested on three rice varieties (Radha-4, US-312 and Sukhkhadhan-5) in split plot design. The results revealed that the highest grain yield was observed in hybrid US-312 (4,695 kg ha^-1) with higher plant height, leaf area index (LAI) and dry matter production than the inbred varieties i.e. Radha-4 and Sukhkhadhan-5. All the nitrogen management treatments including LCC were similar to each other in respect of grain yield formation (4,695-4,891 kg ha^-1), but remained significantly superior over three split applications (4,408 kg ha^-1). Likewise, values of growth parameters were higher in LCC based treatments than the recommended practice and grain yield being the highest in pure LCC (4,891 kg ha^-1). Thus, pure LCC based nitrogen management found to be the best practice for both inbred and hybrid rice varieties.