Seed Coated by Boric Acid Enhances Growth, Yield and Kernel quality of both Fine and Coarse Rice (Oryza sativa L.) under Semi-Arid Environmental Condition

Abstract

Currently, more than half of the world's population relies on rice as a primary crop, making it a crucial cereal crop in the struggle against food security. Sustainable rice production is under great threat because of poor soil productivity and fertility because of nutrient losses due to temperature stress under semiarid conditions. Boron (B) is a vital micronutrient and plays an eminent role in plant proliferation and development. The Super Basmati and KS-282 seeds were coated with boric acid at dosages of 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 g kg^-1 in this experiment. Both rice cultivars exhibited the following traits when boric acid was applied at a rate of 0.75g kg^-1 seed: plant height, maximum number of productive tillers, number of kernels per panicle, grain weight in the thousand, biological yield, paddy yield and straw yield. When boric acid was applied at 0.75 g kg^-1 seed, the physiological characteristics of Super Basmati and KS-282 rice cultivars, such as crop growth rate, leaf area index, leaf area duration and net absorption rate were significantly greater yielding values of 11.08 gm^-2d^-1 and 11.96 gm^-2 d^-1, 4.28 and 4.32, 67.52 and 68.94, 7.33 g m^-2 d^-1, and 8.93 gm When both the super basmati and KS-282 rice cultivars were treated with boric acid at 0.75 g kg-1 seed, considerably higher paddy yields (3.95 t ha^-1) and (5.02 t) were obtained. The kernel quality parameters show maximum results when boric acid applied at 0.75g kg^-1 seed. Current research shows that coating seed with micro nano-nutrients are highly effective procedure for increasing rice production and fertilizer use efficiency under semiarid climatic conditions.