Silicon Promotes Agronomic Performance in Brassica napus Cultivated under Field Conditions with Two Nitrogen Fertilizer Inputs

Abstract

To limit the environmental pollution associated with intensive nitrogen (N) fertilizer usage, alternative cultural practices must be considered for crops requiring high N inputs such as rapeseed. In this context, the effects of silicon (Si) supply on the agronomic performance of rapeseed cultivated under field conditions with two N fertilizer levels (60 and 160 kg ha−1) were studied. Results showed that Si supplied in the form of silicic acid (12 kg ha−1) has no effect on the agronomic performance of plants cultivated with the lower N input. In contrast, in plants fertilized with 160 kg N ha−1, Si supply promotes the preservation of green leaves (until the flowering stage) and at harvest stage, increases biomass, yield, and seed micronutrient concentrations (especially cobalt and iron). The agronomic indexes show that the increase in seed yield is related to a better uptake of N from the soil by Si-treated plants, but is not an improvement in N mobilization towards the seeds. This study showed that Si supply combined with high N inputs (160 kg ha−1) improves usage of N fertilizer and yield. The possibility that a Si supply could allow for a reduction in N input without altering the yield of rapeseed is discussed.

Silicon Alleviates the Disease Severity of Sclerotinia Stem Rot in Rapeseed

“…Most importantly, the application of Si in the present study exhibited no negative affection on the main agronomic traits and seed quality of rapeseed. This is in accordance with studies in which Si was found to protect plants against many biotic and abiotic stresses without the occurrence of resistance trade-offs and/or growth and yield penalties (Fauteux et al, 2005 ; Ma and Yamaji, 2006 ; Laîné et al, 2019 ). Therefore, Si application may provide a new protective strategy to control SSR in rapeseed.…”

Biostimulant Effects of Glutacetine® and Its Derived Formulations Mixed With N Fertilizer on Post-heading N Uptake and Remobilization, Seed Yield, and Grain Quality in Winter Wheat

“…In addition, protein hydrolysates are known to have biostimulant properties under field conditions, such as in tomatoes (Polo and Mata, 2017). Finally, other kinds of biostimulants, such as silicon, may enhance yield and seed quality under field conditions, but only under high N fertilization (Laîné et al, 2019). Altogether, these results demonstrated that VNT4 mixed with N fertilizer has a significant impact on yield and NUE, especially when mixed with UAN, which confirmed the results obtained under greenhouse conditions.…”

Interactions of Silicon With Essential and Beneficial Elements in Plants

“…One explanation could be that Si mediates increase in cytokinin activity in the leaf N source/sink balance via the increased expression of the gene CWINV1 encoding β-fructofuranosidase, insoluble isoenzyme 1 (Markovich et al, 2017). Silicon fertilization is known to improve N use efficiency and agronomic parameters of crops (yield and nutritional value) as observed in the long-term experiments in rice (Cuong et al, 2017), maize (Mabagala et al, 2020), rapeseed (Laine et al, 2019), and wheat (Triticum aestivum) (Neu et al, 2017). Although the underlying mechanism has not been studied in detail, it has been demonstrated that Si-induced biosynthesis of amino acids and remobilization of N (Detmann et al, 2012) can partially explain this phenomenon.…”