Effect of Silicon in Control of Leaf Blast of the Rice in Northern Mato Grosso

Abstract

The application of silicon in rice has shown effectiveness in controlling diseases such as leaf blastl. Therefore this study evaluated the application of foliar silicon in rice under the growthconditions in the state of Mato Grosso, for leaf blast control. The experiment conducted in the field, Socreppa Munhoz farm, municipality of Porto the Gaúchos/MT. The experimental design was randomized, three treatments with ten replications each. The treatments consisted of foliar application of potassium silicate (Sili-k®, with 171 g Si L-1 and 210 g L-1K2O) dose of 3.0 kg ha-1with an application, two applications, and an untreated control. Evaluation of leaf blast was realized in the four upper leaves in the main tillers of the plant on 10 tillers randomly collected in the four central rows of each plot. The severity of leaf blast was determined using a scale of 10 degrees (0; 0.5; 1.0; 2.0; 4.0; 8.0; 16.0; 32.0; 64.0 and 82.0% leaf area affected). Thr ee assessments were made at intervals of 0, 19 and 34 days after application for calculating the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). The best results in reducing the AUDPC were with an application of potassium silicate. Flag leaf with two applications resulted in less severity leaf blast.

Keywords

• oryza sativa
• alternative control
• diseases
• mato grosso