OPTIMIZATION OF SOURCE AND RATE OF SOIL APPLIED SILICON FOR IMPROVING THE GROWTH OF WHEAT

Silicon (Si) is known to be a beneficial element that involved in improving the growth of many crops. It was hypothesized that effective source and optimized rate of soil applied Si could promote the growth of the wheat under normal condition. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effective source and best level of soil applied Si on the growth of the wheat seedling. Experiment was comprised of three silicon sources (sodium silicate, calcium silicate and silicic acid) and four concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg kg^-1). Wheat plants were harvested 40 days after sowing and evaluation was made on the basis of different morphological characteristics of the plants. Results revealed that soil applied Si improved the growth of wheat plant when compared to control. Significantly the higher shoot and root length, their fresh and dry weights, shoot: root ratio, total plant biomass was obtained when 100 and 150 mg kg^-1 Si applied from Ca-silicate. However, these two levels were at par with each other in many parameters observed. The current results also enabled us to select the most effective (100 mg kg^-1) out of four levels of Si from Ca-silicate.