Effect of Native Isolate of Silicon Solubilizing Bacteria on Growth and Yield of Paddy (Oryza sativa L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of native isolate of silicon solubilizing bacteria on growth and yield of Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) during 2023-24 at Agricultural Research Station, Radhanagari, Kolhapur (Maharashtra). In the present investigation, previously four native isolates of silicon solubilizing bacteria (SSB) were isolated from rhizospheric soils of paddy from different regions of Kolhapur district and the efficient native isolate of SSB (designated as SSB-1) was applied by seedling root dip method for field evaluation. The experimental results revealed that the treatment T7, seedling dip in efficient SSB strain + 100% Recommended Dose (RD) of Silicon (300 kg/ha) recorded maximum number of tillers per plant (17.80), plant height at flowering (80.87 cm), root length at harvesting (15.60 cm), dry weight of root (6.33 g) and dry weight of shoot (25.48 g) at harvesting, days to flowering (101.67), days to maturity (126.67), panicle length (23.33 cm), number of grains per panicle (194.53) and grain yield (48.05 q/ha). The silicon uptake by paddy at flowering (198.38 kg/ha) and at harvesting (234.73 kg/ha) as well as silicon solubilizing bacterial population at flowering (15.70×104 g-1) and after harvesting (13.33×104 g-1) were also highest under this treatment. It can be inferred that, the inoculation of the selected efficient native isolate of silicon solubilizing bacteria in combination with silicon fertilization in paddy could increase the silicon use efficiency ultimately enhancing the yield and productivity of paddy.