EXOGENOUS SILICON FERTILIZATION AMELIORATE SALINE STRESS BY IMPROVING SOIL PROPERTIES AND EFFICIENCY OF RICE

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted in the pot culture yard of the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu, India during July-October, 2016. The treatments consists of viz., T1 - Control (RDF), T2 - RDF + Silicon (Si) @ 200 kg ha-1 , T3 - RDF + Poultry manure (P.M) @ 6.5 t ha-1, T4 - RDF + Rice straw compost (RSC) @ 14.5 t ha-1, T5 - RDF + FYM @ 12.5 t ha-1, T6 - RDF + 100% (Si + P.M), T7 - RDF + 100% (Si + RSC) andT8 - RDF + 100% (Si + FYM).The experiment revealed that grain and straw yield was significantly enhanced on addition of silicon, organics and their combinations over control. The highest grain and straw yield was obtained with combined application of RDF + 100% (Si + RSC) T7 (82.10 and108.80 g pot-1). The percentage increase in grain and straw yield (40.75 and 24.86; 33.63 and 20.63) was noticed with combined application of RDF + 100% (Si + RSC) and silicon alone compared to over control. The application of RDF + 100% (Si + RSC) registered the lowest pH, EC, soluble cations (Mg2+ and Na2+) and except Ca2+ and K+. Based on the study, it is concluded that the application of RDF + 100% (Si @ 200 kg ha-1 + RSC @ 14.5 t ha-1) is needed to achieve the improve the soil properties, and yield of rice in the soil.