Nk. Savant et al., DEPLETION OF PLANT-AVAILABLE SILICON IN SOILS - A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF DECLINING RICE YIELDS, Communications in soil science and plant analysis, 28(13-14), 1997, pp. 1245-1252
The phenomenon of yield decline in different rice ecosystems from many
parts of the world has been reported to be associated with decreases
in the effective nitrogen (N) supply from soil. However, many reports
in the literature suggest that silicon (Si) is an agronomically essent
ial element for sustainable rice production. Depletion of plant-availa
ble Si in soils where rice is grown could be a possible limiting facto
r contributing to declining yields. In order to address this problem o
f yield decline or stagnation, it seems necessary to survey Si status
of soils and rice grown in different ecosystems throughout the world a
nd develop region-specific integrated nutrient management systems that
include the element Si.