Effect of calcium silicate as a silicon source on growth and yield of rice plants

Abstract

The pot culture experiment was conducted at Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Maharashtra, India, to study the effect of calcium silicate as a silicon source on growth and yield of rice plants. The plastic pots were filled with 10 kg soil samples from order Inceptisols and Vertisols. The experiment was laid out in factorial completely randomized design having fourteen treatment combinations replicated thrice. The main treatments were soil types Inceptisols and Vertisols; sub treatments were levels of silicon. The calcium silicate was used as a source of silicon. The soil type Vertisols showed significantly highest growth, yield attributes, grain yield (36.20 g pot-1) and straw yield (39.42 g pot-1) of rice plants over the Inceptisols. The application of general recommended dose of fertilizers along with silicon @ 200 kg ha-1 recorded significantly highest growth, yield attributes, grain yield (43.15 g pot-1) and straw yield (46.54 g pot-1) of rice plants over all the levels of silicon.