Impacts of Rice Hull and Pistia on the Vegetative Growth of Rice and Physico-Chemical Properties of Saline Soil Under Variable Moistures

A pot experiment was conducted using BRRI Hybrid Dhan-6 variety of rice at the premises of the Department of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh to evaluate the capabilities of rice hull (RH: 0, 2, 4 t ha-1) and pistia (PT: 0, 400, 800 kg ha-1) for the improvement of growth performances of rice grown under field moist (FM: 70% moisture) and 2 - 5 cm standing water (SW) conditions in saline soil. Among the vegetative growth, the plant heights, number of productive tillers, fresh shoot and shoot dry matter weights were found to be increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with the increased rates of rice hull and pistia treatments, and the increments were more striking by their combinations in most of the cases under both FM and SW conditions. The tallest plant heights (112 cm in FM and 120 cm in SW) and the maximum number of productive tillers (13 in FM and 16 in SW) were recorded at maturity stage of rice in the T8 (RH4PT8) treatment where rice hull and pistia were applied at the highest (RH: 4 t ha-1, PT: 800 kg ha-1) dosages. Based on superiority in both the plant heights and number of tillers, the amendments can be arranged in the sequence of T8 > T7> T6> T5> T2> T3>T4> T0 > T1. The analysis of variance on these data indicated that in the standing water condition, fresh shoot and shoot dry matter weights of rice plants were found to be increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by the application of the higher rates of the treatments and their combinations. Thus, the application of indigenous organic amendments such as, rice hull and pistia showed significant contribution for the growth performances of rice under variable moistures but further researches are needed under variable soil and climatic conditions to ensure food security under saline soil. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 44(2): 173-183, December 2018