Monika and Chanchal Malhotra

Cadmium pollution in soil has been observed all across the world and a high concentration of cadmium has been found to affect the seed germination, seedling emergence and the plant growth and development. The present study deals with application of potassium silicate in overcoming cadmium stress in rice. In this study design, three different concentrations viz. 25,40 and 50 µmolL^-1 (T₁, T₂ and T₃ respectively) of cadmium, T₄(50 µMCdCl₂ +0.3mM potassium silicate L^-1) and T₅(50 µMCdCl₂ +0.5 mM potassium silicate L^-1) were used to investigate the effect of cadmium and potassium silicate on various seed germination parameters, such as %age of germination (GP), coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG), germination rate index (GRI), germination index (GI), mean germination rate (MGR) and seedling growth parameter of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Potassium silicate application has significantly increased the seed germination and seedling growth parameters of Oryza sativa L. Maximum seed germination (95%) was observed in T₅ treatment. Increase in seed germination percentage and other growth characteristics followed the order: T₅> T₄> control >T ₁>T₂>T₃. Cadmium significantly affected the number of roots and significant rise was observed in silicon supplementation as comparison to control and as parallel to T₃ treatment. Mean Days for Germination (MDG) and peak value were also observed highest in T₅ treatment in comparison to other treatments. The results of the present investigation clearly indicate that potassium silicate is effective in mitigating the toxic effects posed by cadmium stress.

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