DIFFERENCES IN PLANT PHOSPHORUS CONTENT IN SELECTED RICE VARIETIES INFLUENCED BY SEED TREATMENTS OF MYCORRHIZAE SP. AND PHOSPHORUS LEVELS

Abstract

As the country faces climate variability challenges throughout the years, it is necessary to effectively utilize nutrients from the soil without sacrificing crop yield and quality with new techniques. This paper intends to explore if there are differences in Phosphorus concentration per plant, Phosphorus uptake per unit root length of rice varieties relative to levels of Phosphorus and Mycorrhizae sp. applied, and seed treatment techniques. It further investigated the plant Phosphorus distribution in selected rice varieties influenced by applying different Phosphorus and Mycorrhizae sp. levels to different seed treatment techniques. The study was conducted in P-deficient soil and laid out using a split-split plot design in CRD, simulating the natural field planting condition. Results revealed that the application of M+50-150% of RP is concentrated in the root system of NSIC Rc 222 with a ratio index of 0.440 to 0.591, comparable to P alone and higher when M alone is applied. The interaction of SxVxP further showed that combining P levels to Mycorrhizae is higher root P content overshoot P than using P alone with a ratio index difference of 0.111 to 0.247 for Rc 480. During the flowering stage (Anthesis), P is delivered to the shoot system. M+50% of RP and M + 100% RP have the highest ratio index comparable with the ratio index of P alone and M alone. During the grain-filling stage, total P is utilized by plants for grain formation. The addition of 50-100% P+Mycorrhizae significantly increased total P content in the shoot markedly higher than plants applied with P alone and Mycorrhizae alone. Combining the effects of three factors during grain-filling, R/S P Ratio obtained is comparable to seed-coated and seed-bioprimed NSIC Rc 222. At the same time, total P is concentrated in the root system rather than distributed to the shoot when NSIC Rc480 is coated or primed with 100-150% of the recommended RP +Mycorrhizae.