Silicon on rice seed yield and quality

The study aimed to evaluate the yield components and physiological quality of rice seeds produced, obtained from coated seeds with rice rusk ash and kaolin®. Treatments consisted of coating rice seeds with two sources of silicon (silicate of aluminum-70% SiO2 (kaolin® and rice husk ash- 95% SiO2) at doses of 0; 30; 60; 90 and 120 g.100 kg-1 seed. Yield components were evaluated: Seed yield per plant, number of panicles per plant and number of seeds per plant. The seeds were subjected to germination, first count, total length, and root seedling tests to evaluate seeds physiological quality. Seed coating provided no increase in seed yield per plant and number of panicles per plant. However, there was an increase in the number of seeds produced for the cv. IRGA 424. In the cv. Puita Inta CL was observed an increase in the number of panicles per plant. As for seed quality, increases in germination were observed when seeds were treated with rice husk ash and the untreated seeds for both cultivars.