Green Global
Foundation   Journal
...an emerging window for scientific research and publication across the globe

ALLEVIATION OF SOIL SALINITY IN RICE BY POTASSIUM AND ZINC FERTILIZATION (Pages : 15 - 21)

The field experiment was conducted to investigate the mitigation of soil salinity in rice by application of potassium and zinc fertilizers. Salt-tolerant cultivar BINA dhan-10 was used as test crop. In this experiment sixteen treatment combinations were used and the experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in a factorial arrangement with three replications. Potassium sulphate and zinc sulphate were used to supply K and Zn nutrients, respectively, and they were applied in two split doses, first dose during final land preparation and second dose at maximum tillering stage. All experimental plots received recommended doses of N, P and S fertilizers. Plant height, panicle length, effective tillers, grains per panicle and 1000-grain weight was significantly increased due to application of K and Zn fertilizers. Most of the yield contributing parameters showed higher values in T14 and T15 treatments compared to other treatments. Grain and straw yields of BINA dhan-10 responded significantly with the different treatment combinations. The highest grain yield (4.33 t/ha) was obtained in T14 (K200Zn150) and T15 (K200Zn200) treatments whereas the highest straw yield (5.35 t/ha) was obtained in T14 treatment, which was higher than all other treatments. An increase in grain yield by 22% over control was observed in both T14 and T15 treatments and straw yield showed 22% and 14% increase over the control in T14 and T15 treatments, respectively. Nutrient (NPS and Zn) uptake was higher when K and Zn were applied at higher doses. The K+/Na+ ratio was also found higher in grain (0.42) and straw (0.44) in T15 treatment. Therefore, it may be concluded that application of higher doses of K and Zn fertilizers could alleviate the adverse effects of salinity in rice by increasing nutrient uptake and maintaining higher K+/Na+ ratio.Download