Study of nutritional responses of different wheat cultivars to silicon in a calcareous soil

Due to growing population and the major role of wheat in producing energy and protein for population, there is a need for new approach in farm management. This approach can help agricultural producers to identify changes in the farm and manage them in order to increase crop yield and productivity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different levels and sources of silicon application on the dry-matter production, concentration and nutrients uptake by seven wheat cultivars in the greenhouse research station of the Soil Sciences Department of the University of Tehran. This study was conducted in a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement with two factors including silicon at six levels (control, potassium silicate with application levels of 200, 400 and 1000 Mg of silicon from the potassium silicate source per kilogram of soil, and silicon nanoparticles with application levels of 50 and 100 mg kg-1 soil) and wheat cultivars (Gonbad, Shirodi, Shiraz, Mahdavi, Marvdasht, Bahar and Parsi) with three replications. The results showed that the application of silicon in various levels and sources, wheat cultivars and their interaction on potassium concentration in shoot and the total amount of phosphorus and potassium in the shoot were significant (p≤0.01). Also, the concentration of silicon and potassium in the shoot of different wheat varieties were the highest in the case of application of silicon nanoparticles at different levels of potassium-silicate which ranged from 0.14-0.32 and 0.16-0.76%, respectively. The average total amounts of silicon, phosphorus and potassium uptake by the shoot also increased by increasing silica-potassium application which ranged from 0.12-5.08, 0.43-1.16 and 8.7-14.2 %, respectively. Therefore, considering the role of silicon in the nutrients uptake, its use, along with the planting of higher-uptake cultivars, could help to improve wheat growth.