Interaction of zinc, copper and nickel in soil on yield and metal content in rice

Abstract

Pot culture experiment was conducted under flooded condition using alluvial soil (Haplaquept) with rice cultivar Ratna as the test crop. The treatment consisted of 3³ factorial combination of Zn (200, 400 and 800 mg kg^‐1 soil) Cu (50, 100 and 200 mg kg^‐1 soil) and Ni (25, 50 and 100 mg kg^‐1 soil).

Significant metal interaction effects for Zn‐Cu, Cu‐Ni and Zn‐Cu‐Ni were observed both for grain and straw yield. The step‐wise multiple regression analyses indicated that the prediction values for grain yield increased significantly when DTPA extractable metals were taken into consideration rather than the metal addition rate. The relative metal contents both the grain and straw were in the order Zn>Cu>Ni. Significant interaction effect of Zn‐Cu was observed for all the three metals both in grain and straw. The mean values of DTPA extractable metals in the post‐harvest soil were 23, 22 and 16 per cent of the added levels for Zn, Cu and Ni, respectively. The metal interaction effects in soil particularly of Zn‐Cu is well reflected in yield as well as metal contents in grain and straw.

Key words:

• Zinc
• copper
• nickel
• interaction
• rice yield metal content
• DTPA extractable metal
• flooded soil.