Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted in 2012 in the greenhouse of the Anand Agricultural University Anand Gujarat, India. Treatments were arranged in a factorial completely randomized complete design with silicon factor at four levels (0, 100, 200 and 300 ppm) with three replicates. Indian improved and high -yielding variety Gurajari was used. The Si application up to 200 mg kg^-1 soil significantly increased grain and straw yields of rice over the control under low (< 25 mg Si kg^-1 soil) and medium (25 - 50 mg Si kg^-1 soil) category soils, while it was up to 100 mg Si kg^-1 soil in high category soils. The soil, grain and straw samples were analyzed for their Si, P, K, S and Na content at harvest. The Si content in grain ranged from 1.77 to 2.69% in untreated plots, whereas in treating plots, it ranged from 1.85 to 3.40%. The average value of Si content in straw was 7.78, 7.46 and 7.82% in low, medium and high category soils, respectively.

Key words: Silicon, yield, mineral composition, content, rice.