7th International Conference on Silicon in Agriculture

The benefits of silicon fertilization have been gaining recognition in many crop production systems, specifically those in the grass family. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the fourth-most produced grain crop worldwide and a high silicon accumulator plant species. Because of the established benefits of silicon fertilization in crop production and known limitations of current application methods for soil-applied silicon amendments, there is a growing interest in using alternative liquid silicon formulations, as they are easier to handle and apply in large-scale crop production systems. Armurox® is a product containing soluble silicon and specific peptide compounds formulated by Bioiberica to promote silicon absorption by leaf surfaces. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of Armurox as foliar source of silicon and determine production and disease protection benefits in wheat. To reach these objectives, a two-year field study was conducted in Baton Rouge and Winnsboro, Louisiana, during 2015 and 2016, comparing a granular-silicon source of Si (slag; CaSiO3, 12% Si) and the liquid-silicon source (Armurox; 3.7% Si, 4% peptides). The effect of Si fertilization was evaluated using yield, silicon uptake, lodging rate, and leaf rust severity as metrics.