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EFFECTS OF SILICON LEVELS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF WHEAT IN SILTY LOAM SOIL

SAEED A. ABRO¹, RAHMATULLAH QURESHI ^2, FATEH M. SOOMRO³,  AMEER AHMED MIRBAHAR⁴, AND G.S. JAKHAR⁵

Abstract: Silicon is the abundant mineral in soil, present exclusively in the form of silicic acid (H₄SiO₄). It is absorbed by plants in the form of silicic acid. The different levels of silicic acid were tested in a pot experiment to assess their effects on improvement of growth and yield in wheat. In a complete randomized block design the seeds of three varieties viz., Mehran, Abadgar and Kiran-95 were sown in pots filled with 2 kg of silty loam soil. The silicic acid was added to soil in a concentration of no silicic acid (T1), 0.25% silicic acid (T2), 0.50% silicic acid (T3) and 0.75% silicic acid (T4). The silicic acid concentrations affected crop positively as well as negatively as all the varieties produced highest plant growth and yield at 0.25% and 0.50% silicic acid application while the lowest plant growth and yield was found under 0.75% silicic acid. The highest plant growth and yield was observed in Abadgar followed by Mehran wheat variety.

¹Institute of Botany, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan.

²Department of Botany, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

³Department of Microbiology, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Pakistan

⁴Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology Section, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Pakistan.

⁵Department of Botany, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Pakistan.
Corresponding author: rahmatullahq@yahoo.com, phytotaxonomist@gmail.com; +92306730496