Effects of silicic acid rate and application method on plant growth, yield components and yield of Oryza sativa L. var. MR284

Abstract

Silicon is one of the beneficial elements to the rice plant for plant growth and the effects could be detected particularly under the biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Plants take up silicon in a form of monosilicic acid from various sources of silicon. A pot experiment was conducted under a greenhouse condition to study the uptake of silicon by local Malaysian rice variety MR284 in a form of silicic acid. The experiment was carried out under 2 x 4 factorial design consist of two methods of silicic acid application namely foliar spray and drench method and four silicic acid rate at 0, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06 mol L−1-set up in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications. Parameters measured were plant growth, yield component and grain yield. Paddy with foliar spray application of silicic acid had a better performance than of paddy with drench method in term of yield increment. The application of silicic acid did not have significant effects on panicle length, plant height and thousand grain weight. The number of tillers and number of panicles had increased with an increasing silicic acid rate, while percentage of filled grain and grain yield decreased with the increasing of silicic acid rate. The findings suggest that the ideal amount of silicic acid for optimum effects on growth and yield of paddy can be used at 0.02 mol L−1 as foliar spray application.