Abstract
<p>In the presence study representative rice producing sites in Lampung, Central Java and West Java Province was presented, the relationships between soil properties, rice growth and yield, and further evaluated the effect of Si application on rice growth and yield in different soil types were carried out using local steel slug, which was the most common material as the Si amendment. The soil samples were acidic to neutral with textural classes were clayey, loam and sandy clay loam. Mean nitrogen and available P content was below the value in tropical Asia. Silica availability has been decreasing in rice fields in Indonesia and Si deficiency in rice is now recognized as a possible limiting factor rice production. Steel slug, which has a high Si content and locally available, was selected as a potential source of Si in the present study. A greenhouse experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of steel slug on rice growth in different soil types. Steel slug was applied at the rates of 0, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 300 kg Si/ha. Steel slug application increased plant height at 300 kg Si/ha. Grain yield of soils that contained low available Si was increased with steel slug application. In contrast, some soils with high available Si content did not respond to Si application and other soil properties affected rice growth.</p>
Highlights
Rice is the major staple food in Indonesia and the third in the world in regards to total rice production
According to Abdulrachman et al (2006) from 21 cropping seasons, they indicated that with balanced fertilization of N, P, and K grain yield averaged 5.5 ton/ha in the dry season and 6.5 ton/ha in the wet season. They found that in West Java, farmers believed that the natural supply of K in the soil is sufficient for high rice yields and have never applied fertilizer K to their rice fields, but fertilizer K application increased the yield by 10 ton/ha across the 21 seasons
Tiller number and plant height were highest in the site with high available Si content
Summary
Rice is the major staple food in Indonesia and the third in the world in regards to total rice production. According to Abdulrachman et al (2006) from 21 cropping seasons (or 10.5 years of intensive cropping), they indicated that with balanced fertilization of N, P, and K grain yield averaged 5.5 ton/ha in the dry season and 6.5 ton/ha in the wet season They found that in West Java, farmers believed that the natural supply of K in the soil is sufficient for high rice yields and have never applied fertilizer K to their rice fields, but fertilizer K application increased the yield by 10 ton/ha across the 21 seasons. Husnain et al (2009) found that dissolved silica in irrigation water, which is a main Si source to rice field, decreased through Si trap by diatoms in dams in the Citarum watershed This phenomenon could be accelerated by N and P enrichment caused by chemical fertilizer usage in uplands and fish culture in the dams. We used local steel slug, which is the most common material as the Si amendment
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