Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

EFFECT OF ZINC AND BORON FERTILIZATION ON GROWTH, YIELD AND NUTRIENT CONCENTRATION IN RICE

U. Ghosh and P. C. Srivastava

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted in the net house of G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India during Kharif season of 2013 to investigate the effect of Zinc (Zn) and Boron (B) fertilization on growth, yield and nutrient concentrations in rice in a Zn deficient soil. Zinc and B were applied to rice in twenty five treatments combining five levels of Zn (0, 2.5, 5.0, 10 mg Zn/kg soil through ZnSO4, 7H2O and 0.5% ZnSO4. 7H2O+0.25% lime foliar spray) and five levels of B (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg B/ kg soil through boric acid and 0.2% borax foliar spray) in triplicates. The highest grain yield of rice (28.3 g/pot) was obtained under a combination of 10.0 mg Zn/kg soil + foliar application of B followed by 27.4 g/pot under foliar spray of Zn+2.0 mg B/kg of soil. The number of productive tillers per plant was influenced greatly with B application. Thousand grain weight of the rice variety was highest (30.1g) under the combination of foliar spray of 0.5% zinc sulphate heptahydrate + foliar spray of 0.2% borax followed by 29.1 g under a combination of 10.0 mg Zn/kg soil + foliar spray of 0.2% borax. Zinc fertilization did not influence the Zn concentration in rice grain but increased the Zn concentration significantly in rice straw over no Zn application. Interaction effect of Zn and B levels showed that the B concentration was higher in higher level of B treated and Znuntreated or lower level Zn- treated plants.