Using silicon can help UK farmers reach ELMS targets by reducing the use of chemicals & fertilisers.

Silicon, the world’s second most abundant element, can increase yield, improve soil health, strength plants and improve disease response, suggests silicon biostimulants specialist Orion FT.

Using silicon can also help UK farmers reach ELMS targets by reducing the use of chemicals and fertilisers. “Silicon offers countless benefits to crops and soil health. It boosts the genetic potential of plants by strengthening cells, enhancing cuticle thickness, and increasing leaf hair length. These benefits increase a plant’s resilience to factors such as pest or disease penetration, as well as water stress,” explains Orion FT director James Kennedy.

Orion FT offers a range of silicon products which enhance the crop’s natural defences to protect against pest and pathogen attack. “Silicon only becomes available to plants in its monosilisilic form. Our enhanced iNHiB™Technology makes silicon available to the crops in this way to help mitigate plant stress,” says Mr Kennedy.

Proven to increase wheat yields

Once absorbed, silicon is deposited within and between the cells of the plant. It has been proven to increase wheat yields and reduce damage caused by grazing pests such as cabbage stem flea beetle and slugs. Silicon encourages crops to absorb beneficial elements such as zinc, calcium, and nitrogen. It can also help to regulate phosphorus uptake and prevent toxicity from trace metals in the soil. “Silicon can be applied at every crop growth stage and using a variety of application methods, including direct to soil, as a seed treatment, via fertigation, and as a foliar spray,” he says.

An AHBD biostimulant review referenced a number of scientific papers recognising the benefits of silicon. “The benefits are clear, and Orion is at the forefront of research and product formulation in this area. Our innovative silicon technology and expertise can help farmers and growers realise tangible improvements within their farming systems. With input prices rising and a reduction in the number of chemicals available for use in the UK, silicon represents a new way to improve plant health and increase crop yields,” he concludes.

Effect of Silicon Fertilization on Crop Yield Quantity and Quality

The most known effect is the effect of silicon on plants, which uptake the largest amounts of this element, i.e., in sugar cane and rice. However, these species are rarely grown in Europe, and, moreover, much less research on this aspect has been conducted on plants that have the greatest economic importance in Europe: cereals, rapeseed, sugar beet, and potato.

In recent years, more research has been performed with regards to foliar nutrition using silicon, which brings unequivocal production benefits, and at the same time is much cheaper and more convenient to use than soil fertilization. As a result, it improves the profitability of many plant species’ production. Hopes are high regarding its effect on the reduction of drought stress, which is increasingly affecting agriculture in Europe. The positive effect of silicon observed, in the studies, results in many cases in which the susceptibility of plants to drought stress is reduced.

Silicon has also a beneficial effect on limiting the adverse effects of other abiotic stresses, caused by salinity, heavy metals, high and low temperature, water flooding, etc. Taking account of all these factors, the most important for Europe are too high and too low temperatures, but they only concern certain areas of the continent (mainly too low temperature). The significance of other abiotic factors is relatively low in Europe.

High hopes are related to the use of silicon to limit the effects of biotic stress caused by diseases and pests. Obtaining improvement of yield and crop quality in many experiments was often the result of increased resistance of plants to infection by diseases caused mainly by fungi. The use of this element for foliar nutrition of plants may become an important element of integrated plant protection in the near future, which all farmers in the European Union are obliged to apply. Also important is the fact that foliar application of silicon is safe for the natural environment and can also be used in organic farming, which is becoming more important in Europe.

The increase of yield observed in many studies, after applying foliar nutrition with silicon, was caused by the improvement of all or some of the yield components. In the case of most common cereals, they were: a spike density during harvest, a number of kernels per spike, and a mass of 1000 grains. An increase in the number of grains per cob and their mass was observed in maize. A higher yield of soybean caused by foliar application of silicon resulted from the increase in the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds in the pod, and the weight of 1000 seeds.

In the cultivation of winter oilseed rape, the improvement of plants’ resistance to winter conditions was observed, as well as the formation of larger seeds. In the case of sugar beet, foliar nutrition with silicon contributed to the increase of fresh root mass, and increase of the root yield, which determines the yield of sugar. In the potato cultivation, plants fertilized with silicon developed tubers with a larger fresh mass.

 Potato

In the study conducted on potato cultivation in Israel, effect of silicon fertilization was examined. High silicon in tuber skin resulted in anatomical and compositional changes suggesting delayed skin maturation. Potatoes are susceptible to yield loss due to suboptimal growth conditions; thus, silicon fertilization may contribute to crop improvement. Compared to controls, skin cell area was greater, suber in biosynthetic genes were upregulated, and skin cell walls were enriched with oxidized aromatic moieties, suggesting enhanced lignification and suberization. Study of silicon metabolism in potato would contribute to ensuring food safety under changing climatic conditions.

• In a study conducted in Brazil, silicon fertilization of the soil increased the average tuber weight, dry tuber weight, and tuber yield, especially in the absence of water deficit. In Poland in the years 2009–2011, the effects of foliar nutrition with Yara Vita Potato (P—192 g∙dm⁻³, K—62 g∙dm⁻³, Mg—40 g∙dm⁻³, Mn—10 g∙dm⁻³, Zn—5 g∙dm⁻³) and Actisil fertilizer (Si—6 g∙dm⁻³) on potato cv. Jelly were evaluated and compared to the control treatment (without foliar nutrition).
• Three treatments of foliar nutrition were examined: (1) Yara Vita Potato: the first spray after canopy closure (2 dm³·ha⁻¹), the second after 14 days from the first (10 dm³·ha⁻¹), and the third after 14 days after the second treatment (10 dm³·ha⁻¹); (2) Actisil: first spraying after plant emergence (0.3 dm³·ha⁻¹), second treatment after 14 days from the first (0.4 dm³·ha⁻¹), and third treatment 14 days after the second treatment (0.3 dm³·ha⁻¹); and (3) Yara Vita Potato + Actisil (both fertilizers were used in quantities and dates as in both previous treatments).
• Foliar nutrition did not have a significant impact on the yield of tubers. However, it had a significant impact on the reduction of the fraction of the smallest tubers (with a diameter below 30 mm) in a yield of approx. 50% and an increase in the share of the largest tubers (with a diameter of over 60 mm), especially after using Actisil fertilizer alone (+23%) or in combined with the fertilizer Yara Vita Potato (+10%). Additional studies conducted in 2011 on the impact of the applied foliar fertilizers, Yara Vita Potato and Actisil, on the quality of tubers such as darkening of the raw pulp and levels of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium did not show any significant differences.
• However, it was found that the evaluated fertilizers significantly limited the accumulation of harmful nitrates in tubers, especially in treatments in which the Actisil silicon fertilizer was used together with Yara Vita Potato—the nitrate content in this treatment was lower by almost 60%. Silicon fertilization had no significant effect on the quantity of the loss of natural potato tubers after 6 months of storage.
• During cultivation, no significant differences were observed in the spreading of potato blight (Phtytophtora infestans) between treatments with foliar nutrition (regardless of the product used) and control treatment. A slightly slower development was observed on plants with foliar nutrition, but only in 2011, which is very favorable for the development of this disease. The applied foliar nutrition with Actisil fertilizer together with the chemical plant protection significantly inhibited the development of potato blight on the leaves during the growing season.
• The assessment of tubers after harvest in terms of disease infection was not unequivocal in each year of the study due to significant differences in the severity of individual diseases. It was observed that the use of Actisil fertilizer significantly limited the share of tubers with the symptoms of potato bacterial soft rot (Erwinia carotovora var. carotovora) with the simultaneous increase in the number of tubers with black scurf (Rhizoctonia solani spores). There was no significant effect of foliar fertilizers on the occurrence of hollow heart, internal heat necrosis, common scab (Streptomyces scabies), and dry rot (Fusarium spp.).
• In studies conducted on three potato varieties in India in 2013–2017, the effects of using orthosilicic acid (Silixiol Potato) were studied. After spraying seed potatoes with Silixiol Potato at a concentration of 1 cm³∙dm⁻³, the yield of tubers increased by 15%. After foliar application at a concentration of 4 cm³∙dm⁻³, the yield increase on average was 50%. However, if standard fertilizers with macroelements were applied, then after spraying the seed potatoes, no significant increase in yield was obtained, and after foliar spraying it was 20%. Based on these results, the authors argue that silicon plays a role in improving the use of nutrients by the plant.
• They also observed an improvement in the quality of tubers (reduction of tuber breaks, and hollow hearts). The cost–benefit ratio for the foliar application of orthosilicic acid (Silixiol Potato) was, on average, 1:6 for the farmer.
• In Poland in 2011–2012, the effect of foliar nutrition in the form of Herbagreen Basic fertilizer with calcium and silicon on the yield and quality of early medium edible potato tubers cv. Finezja, recommended for the production of fries was examined. Spraying was performed three times during the growing season: the first time in the initial growth period (at the potato plant height of 15–20 cm—the first decade of June), the second after about 2 weeks, and the third after about 4–5 weeks (the end of flowering growth stage).
• The effect was examined at different concentrations of mineral fertilization with nitrogen: 50, 75, and 100 kg N∙ha⁻¹. In each application, a fertilizer concentration of 2.5 kg in 500 dm³ of water∙ha⁻¹ was used. In unfavorable weather conditions, in 2011, a significantly higher yield increase of tubers after foliar application of Herbagreen Basic was obtained than in 2012, when the weather was more favorable. In 2011, after the foliar spraying, the total yield of tubers increased, on average, by 14.8%, and the commercial yield increased by 16.4% compared to the control object, whereas in 2012, the increments were much smaller and amounted to 5.5% and 7.7%, respectively, in relation to the control treatment.
• On average, the yield increase caused by foliar nutrition in the years 2011–2012 was 9% of total tuber yield and 11% of commercial yield. It was also shown that foliar nutrition with the tested fertilizer allowed one to limit the soil fertilization with mineral nitrogen. After application of 75 kg N∙ha⁻¹ together with foliar nutrition, similar yield of tubers was obtained as at a dose of 100 kg N∙ha⁻¹ without foliar nutrition, so the soil nitrogen dose could be reduced by about 25%, whereas in unfavorable weather conditions potato yield increased up to 50%.
• The foliar nutrition had a positive effect on the size of tubers, which was expressed by a larger, on average, 2%, increased share of tubers with a diameter of 50–60 mm and a 4% higher share of large tubers (diameter over 60 mm) in comparison with the control treatment. Assessment of the occurrence of external defects in tubers, i.e., deformation, greening, and common scab, showed a smaller percentage of their share in treatment with foliar nutrition, which resulted mainly from a smaller share of green tubers. Foliar nutrition did not have a significant impact on the content of starch, nitrates, and dry matter in tubers.
• In India, using diatomaceous earth at a dose of 150 kg∙ha⁻¹ with half the dose of the standard fertilizer (NPK + manure), the potato tuber yield was increased by 38.7% (24.3 Mg∙ha⁻¹) compared to the control (17.5 Mg∙ha⁻¹) and by 12.9% in relation to the full dose of standard fertilization (21.5 Mg∙ha⁻¹). The use of diatomaceous earth in doses of 150, 300, and 600 kg∙ha⁻¹, together with full standard fertilizer, resulted in the reduction of tuber yields in comparison with the same doses of diatomaceous earth, but with half the dose of standard fertilizer.
• This may be because of the higher extent of infection due to late blight in the later growing season. The application of diatomaceous earth at a dose of 600 kg∙ha⁻¹ significantly improved the size of tubers and number of tubers weighing over 75 g (only full standard fertilizer) with 34 pcs per plot up to 64 pcs per plot.
• Foliar application of oligomeric silicic acid and boric acid in cultivation of potato in the Netherlands in 2003 increased the tuber yield by 6.5% and lowered disease-causing infection in plants. In the study conducted in Iran, effect of four different silicon compounds (nanosilica, sodium silicate, nanoclay, and Bentonite) in two concentrations (1000 and 2000 ppm) on growth of potato plants was examined.
• Silicon treatments, except sodium silicate, improved leaf properties (up to 18% in leaf dry weight in Bentonite (1000 ppm)) and increased stem diameter (up to 17% in nanoclay and Bentonite (1000 ppm)). All root traits were improved by the silicon fertilizer (up to 54% in root area per plant in sodium silicate (1000 ppm)). Although minituber production was not affected by silicon treatments, minituber quality characteristics were improved by silicon application in comparison with the control plants. The increase in potato yield caused by silicon fertilization was the result of the production of tubers with a larger fresh weight by plants.

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