Enhancing productivity of lowland rice through silicon nutrition

Rice is a known Silicon (Si) accumulator and it benefits from silicon nutrition. Depletion of plant available Si in soil where rice is grown may contribute to decline or stagnating yield. The effective management of Si can offer several potential credits for crop production. Field experiment was conducted in clay loam soil belonging to Kondal series (Vertisols- Typic Haplusterts) during 2009 with an objective of studying the effect of foliar and soil application of silicon on growth, yield, nutrient uptake and their availability in rice var. ADT 43. The treatments consisted of T1- Control (RDF 120:32:32 N, P2O5, K2O kg ha-1), T2 - 2 ml L-1 Si , T3 - 4 ml L-1 Si and T4 - 8 ml L-1 Si , T5 -1.63 kg available Si ha-1 (5 t LFA ha-1), T6 - 3.26 kg available Si ha-1 (10 t LFA ha-1), T7 - 4.89 kg available Si ha-1 (15 t LFA ha-1), T8 - 1.63 kg available Si ha-1 (5 t LFA ha-1) + T4 , T9 - 3.26 kg available Si ha-1 (10 t LFA ha-1) + T3 and T10 - 4.89 kg available Si ha-1 (15 t LFA ha-1) + T2.