Studies on the foliar application of Silicon based nutrients against brown spot of rice

Pot culture study was conducted to test the efficacy of silicon based nutrients for assessing their influence on the incidence of brown spot of rice. Three silicon based nutrients viz., calcium silicate (CS), sodium Silicate (SS) and potassium silicate (PS) at 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 per cent concentration were sprayed individually at disease initiation and repeated once at fifteen days interval. The experiments were conducted in a randomized block design with three replications for each treatment and a suitable control. The fungicide carbendazim 50 WP @ 0.1 per cent was used for comparison and the standard agronomic practices as recommended by the State Agricultural Department were followed. Among them, potassium silicate at three per cent level was the most effective over the other nutrients followed by potassium silicate at two per cent in reducing disease incidence as compared to control and also Potassium silicate at 3 per cent level recorded maximum grain and straw yield, followed by potassium silicate @ 2 per cent level. It was followed by Calcium silicate @ 3 per cent while the lowest grain and straw yield was recorded in control.