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Origin of silica in rice plants and contribution of diatom Earth fertilization: insights from isotopic Si mass balance in a paddy field

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Abstract

Background and aims

The benefits of Si for crops is well evidenced but the biogeochemical cycle of Si in agriculture remains poorly documented. This study aims at identifying and quantifying the Si sources (primary and secondary soil minerals, amorphous silica, irrigation, Si-fertilizer) to rice plants.

Method

Field experiments were carried out with and without application of diatomaceous earth (DE) under rice and bare conditions to determine the water and dissolved mass balance in paddy fields (Karnataka, Southern India). The fate of the Si brought by irrigation (DSi) (uptake by rice, uptake by diatoms, adsorption) was assessed through a solute mass balance combined with silicon isotopic signatures.

Results

Above the ground-surface, about one third of the DSi flux brought by borewell irrigation (545 mmol Si.m−2) to bare plots and half of DSi in rice plots were removed from solution within minutes or hours following irrigation. Such rate is consistent with the rate of DSi adsorption onto Fe-oxyhydroxides but not with diatom blooms. In rice and rice + DE experiments, the isotopic fractionation factor (30ε) between bore well and stagnant water compositions is close to −1 ‰, i.e. the isotopic fractionation factor known for rice, indicating that above-ground DSi removal would be dominated by plant uptake upon adsorption. Within the soil layer, pore water DSi decreases much faster in rice experiments than in bare ones, demonstrating the efficiency of DSi rice uptake upon adsorption. Total irrigation-DSi to plant-Si would then represent 24 to 36% in rice experiments (over 1460 ± 270 mmol Si m−2 in biomass) and 15 to 23% in rice + DE ones (over 2250 ± 180 mmol Si m−2). The δ30Si signature of whole plants was significantly different in the rice + DE plot analyzed, 0.99 ± 0.07 ‰, than in the rice one, 1.29 ± 0.07 ‰. According to these δ30Si signatures, the main Si source from the soil would be the amorphous silica pool (ASi). A slight contribution of DE to the rice plant could be detected from the Si isotopic signature of rice.

Conclusions

The δ30Si signatures of the various soil-plant compartments, when associated to Si mass balance at soil-plant scale, constitute a reliable proxy of the Si sources in paddy fields. The solute Si balance is controlled by rice uptake in rice plots and by adsorption in bare ones. The main Si sources for the rice plants were soil ASi, irrigation Si and to a lesser extent Si fertilizer when it was applied.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA; Project n°5109-1) and by the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD, France) which funded the deputation of J. Riotte and the long duration stays of J.D. Meunier. The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on the manuscript. Hemanth Moger and Jean-Louis Duprey are thanked for the chemical analyses, Jonathan Prunier and Manuel Henry for their support in clean room and the personnel of VC farm at Mandya for help during the rice cropping experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (Université Paul-Sabatier, IRD, CNRS), 14 avenue E. Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Jean Riotte, Stéphane Audry, Thomas Zambardi & Jérôme Chmeleff

  2. Indo-French Cell for Water Sciences, IRD-Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, 560012, India

    Jean Riotte

  3. University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, India

    Kollalu Sandhya & Nagabovanalli B. Prakash

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, 560012, India

    Sriramulu Buvaneshwari

  5. Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRD, Coll France, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, cedex 04, France

    Jean-Dominique Meunier

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  1. Jean Riotte
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Riotte, J., Sandhya, K., Prakash, N.B. et al. Origin of silica in rice plants and contribution of diatom Earth fertilization: insights from isotopic Si mass balance in a paddy field. Plant Soil 423, 481–501 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3535-z

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