EFFECT OF ARSENIC ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF RICE

Abstract

The pot experiment was conducted at the Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from December 2010 to May 2011 to study the effect of arsenic on growth and yield of rice. The experiment comprised of two factors. Factor A: Arsenic level (4 levels): As0: Control (No arsenic); As1: 20 ppm As kg soil-1, As2: 40 ppm As kg soil-1 and As3: 60 ppm As kg soil-1. Factor B: Rice variety: (4 Nos.); V1: BRRI dhan28; V2: BRRI dhan29; V3: BRRI hybrid dhan-1 and V4: Chamak. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. In case of arsenic, at 30, 50, 70, 90 DAT and harvest the longest plant (17.59 cm, 32.53 cm, 56.64 cm, 77.04 and 84.09 cm), maximum length of panicle (23.10 cm), highest number of filled grains panicle-1 (92.52), highest grain yield (3.91 t ha-1) and highest straw yield (7.52 t ha-1) was recorded in As0, whereas the shortest plant (16.44 cm, 28.88 cm, 53.40 cm, 72.53 cm and 80.85 cm), minimum length of panicle (22.05), lowest number of filled grains panicle-1 (79.35), lowest grain yield (3.39 t ha-1) and lowest straw yield (7.16 t ha-1) was recorded in As3. In case of variety, at 30, 50, 70, 90 DAT and at harvest, the tallest plant (18.61 cm, 34.68 cm, 58.59 cm, 81.69 cm and 92.40 cm) was observed in V4, again the shortest plant (15.01 cm, 24.74 cm, 47.47 cm, 60.05 cm and 63.10 cm) from V1. The maximum length of panicle (23.80 cm) was recorded in V3, whereas the minimum length (21.01 cm) from V1. The highest number of filled grains panicle-1 (88.46) was observed in V4, whereas the lowest number (79.83) from V1. The highest grain yield (4.91 t ha-1) was found in V3 and the lowest grain yield (2.66 t ha-1) from V1. The highest straw yield (8.08 t ha-1) was observed in V4, whereas the lowest straw yield (6.66 t ha-1) from V1. In case of the interaction effect of arsenic and variety, at 30, 50, 70, 90 DAT and at harvest the tallest plant (20.34 cm, 39.96 cm, 64.15 cm, 89.03 cm and 99.43 cm, respectively) was observed from As0V4, while the shortest (13.46 cm, 20.38 cm, 42.91 cm, 53.78 cm and 54.43 cm, respectively) from As3V1. The maximum length of panicle (24.28 cm) was attained from As0V3 and the minimum length (20.82 cm) from As3V1. The highest number of filled grains panicle-1 (95.63) was observed from As0V2 and the lowest number (71.90) from As3V1. The highest grain yield (5.30 t ha-1) was attained from As0V3, while the lowest grain yield (2.20 t ha-1) from As3V1. The highest straw yield (8.23 t ha-1) was recorded from As0V4, whereas the lowest straw yield (6.40 t ha-1) from As3V1.