Effects of Foliar Application of Liquid Fertilizer on Agronomical and Physiological Traits of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Abstract

Providing rice (<em>Oryza sativa </em>L.) plants with the required nutrients is essential in order to avoid yield reduction. As such, an experiment was performed at the Rice Research Institute of Iran in Amol Township to evaluate the effects of foliar application of nutrients on rice plants. The experiment consisted of a randomized complete block design, with four replications during 2 crop years (2016 and 2017). Experimental treatments included foliar application of nutrients [the chemical composition of liquid fertilizer was as follows: nitrogen (N): 7%, phosphorus (P): 7%, potassium (K): 7%, iron (Fe): 0.05%, boron (B): 0.05%, zinc (Zn): 0.01%, manganese (Mn): 0.01%, and copper (Cu): 0.01%] in the following growth phases: (A) midtillering stage, (B) maximum tillering, (C) panicle initiation, (D) maximum tillering + panicle initiation, (E) all stages, and (F) control treatment (no liquid fertilizer applied). Our results indicate that foliar application of nutrients in different vegetative and generative stages significantly affected plant height, number of tillers per plant, chlorophyll concentration, number of filled grains per panicle, and grain yield. However, our treatments did not significantly affect the 1,000-grain weight. Furthermore, foliar application of nutrients significantly affected physiological traits including leaf area index, growth rate, and total dry weight of plants. Our results indicate that the mean values of the investigated traits were highest in the “maximum tillering + panicle initiation” and “all stages” treatments. In contrast, the lowest mean values of the investigated traits were found in the control treatment. Foliar application of nutrients at the “maximum tillering + panicle initiation” stage resulted in the highest chlorophyll concentrations, leaf area index, and crop growth rate in the flowering stage. Our results indicate that foliar application of nutrients was most effective when applied to Sahel variety rice during two vegetative and reproductive stages.

Effects of Salicylic Acid and Macro- and Micronutrients through Foliar and Soil Applications on the Agronomic Performance, Physiological Attributes, and Water Productivity of Wheat under Normal and Limited Irrigation in Dry Climatic Conditions

“…Most importantly, the nutrient uptake by this practice is not affected by root health and soil physicochemical properties and therefore increases the efficiency of plant nutrient use [ 27 , 29 , 38 ]. All of the above advantages of the foliar spray method lead to delayed leaf senescence, increased LAI, enhanced chlorophyll biosynthesis, improved solar radiation utilization, prolonged photosynthetic rate, and increased transport rate of photosynthetic products from leaves to the developing grains [ 27 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. These abovementioned positive results of the application of plant nutrients through the F method may elucidate why treatments involving the foliar application of Mac and Mic nutrients under NI conditions produced higher growth, physiological attributes, yield, and yield components than the control treatment (untreated plants), as shown in Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 , as well as it may explain also why the different growth parameters, such as GLN, LAI, SFW, and SDW, and photosynthetic pigments, such as Chl-a, Chl-b, and Chlt, exhibited strong and positive correlations with yield and yield components, as shown in Table 4 .…”

Slow and Controlled Release Nitrogen Fertilizers: Options for Improving Rice Productivity: A Review

“…The goal of nutrition management is to supply plants with suitable amounts of necessary nourishing materials during the growth season" [32]. "Foliar feeding is a common agricultural management practice used to increase plant growth and yield" [33].…”

Response of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) to Soil and Foliar Application of Nano-ZnO and Bulk Zn-fertilizer in Red Acidic Soil of West Bengal, India

“…At 80 DAT also Zn application at the rate of 5 kg/ha (94.56 cm in the first year; 97.95 cm in the second year) increased plant height in comparison to control (86.76 cm in the first year; 89.80 cm in the second year). Mahmoodi & Mogadam (2015) reported that applying foliar Zn at tillering step has more profound effect on rice plant height compared with initiation step of panicle formation. Ghoneim (2016) reported that Zn application affected plant height significantly.…”