Vol. 12, Issue 7 (2023)

Author(s):
R Rex Immanuel and TS Sasikumar

Abstract:
Rice is the Asia’s economically and culturally most essential food crop and its production is substantially improved by agro-techniques such as soil fertility, water use, and pest management. However, abiotic factors, especially soil moisture stress due to erratic rainfall the most important factors limiting rice productivity. Adoption of agronomic practices like foliar application of stress tolerance inducing substances is one of the best solutions for improving crop productivity. Field experiments were conducted at Annamalai University Experimental Farm, Tamil Nadu during “Kuruvai” and “Nanvarai” (Kharif and Rabi) seasons of 2021 and 2022 to study the effect of foliar application of stress tolerance inducing substances on the performance of rice under moisture stress condition. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) and was replicated thrice with 12 treatment combinations including RDF, KNO₃, ZnSO₄, salicylic acid / gibberellic acid / humic acid / PPFM. Growth parameters were significantly influenced by application of drought tolerance inducing substances under moisture stress condition. Among the treatments, Recommended dose fertilizer (120 kg N, 40 kg P₂O₅ and 40 kg K₂O ha^-1) + acute soil drying + KNO₃ @ 2% and ZnSO₄ @ 0.5% at panicle initiation and 15 days after 1^st spray + humic acid @ 0.2% at booting stage and 15 days after 1^st spray recorded highest growth parameters viz., plant height, number of tillers hill^-1, root volume and physiological parameters like leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR) and chlorophyll content index (CCI).