Effect of Silicon and Boron on Soil Nutrient Status in Laterite Derived Paddy Soils of Northern Kerala Nagula Sainath1,*, Prabhakar Neethu1 1Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Kerala Agricultural University, College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, Kasaragod-671314 *email: sainathnagula134@gmail.com
Online published on 15 December, 2016. Abstract Field experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India to study the effect of silicon and boron fertilization on yield and nutrient uptake in laterite soils of northern Kerala. Experiment was laid out in randomised block design replicated thrice with nine treatments using Aishwarya as the test variety. The study revealed that the application of silicon and boron as soil and foliar application had a synergistic effect on the availability of N, P, K, Ca, Zn and Cu in the soil and significant decline in available Fe content in soil. Foliar application of 0.5% silicon and 0.5% boron as potassium silicate and borax was more effective in improving the uptake of siliconand boron by the crop compared to soil application of silicon and boron. The Fe content in straw and grain were decreased with application of silicon while its uptake in plant alone was significantly increased. Application of three sprays of silicon and boron proved significantly superior with respect to yield and yield attributes of rice. This experiment clearly indicated that application of Si and B significantly improves the available nutrient status of soil, nutrient uptake, grain and straw yield of rice. Top Keywords Silicon, boron, rice, nutrient uptake, iron, yield. Top |