"Silicon Biogeochemistry" Working Group, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374, Müncheberg, Germany.
University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 21;11(1):20852. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-00464-7.
Drought and the availability of mineable phosphorus minerals used for fertilization are two of the important issues agriculture is facing in the future. High phosphorus availability in soils is necessary to maintain high agricultural yields. Drought is one of the major threats for terrestrial ecosystem performance and crop production in future. Among the measures proposed to cope with the upcoming challenges of intensifying drought stress and to decrease the need for phosphorus fertilizer application is the fertilization with silica (Si). Here we tested the importance of soil Si fertilization on wheat phosphorus concentration as well as wheat performance during drought at the field scale. Our data clearly showed a higher soil moisture for the Si fertilized plots. This higher soil moisture contributes to a better plant performance in terms of higher photosynthetic activity and later senescence as well as faster stomata responses ensuring higher productivity during drought periods. The plant phosphorus concentration was also higher in Si fertilized compared to control plots. Overall, Si fertilization or management of the soil Si pools seem to be a promising tool to maintain crop production under predicted longer and more serve droughts in the future and reduces phosphorus fertilizer requirements.
干旱和可用于施肥的可开采磷矿的供应是未来农业面临的两个重要问题。土壤中高磷的可用性是维持高农业产量的必要条件。干旱是未来陆地生态系统性能和作物生产的主要威胁之一。为应对日益加剧的干旱压力和减少磷肥施用需求而提出的措施包括硅（Si）施肥。在这里，我们在田间尺度上测试了土壤硅肥对小麦磷浓度以及干旱条件下小麦性能的重要性。我们的数据清楚地表明，硅施肥处理的土壤水分更高。更高的土壤水分有助于提高植物的光合作用活性和延缓衰老，以及更快的气孔响应，从而在干旱期确保更高的生产力，从而提高植物的性能。与对照处理相比，硅施肥处理的植物磷浓度也更高。总的来说，硅施肥或土壤硅库的管理似乎是一种有前途的工具，可以在未来预测的更长时间和更严重的干旱下维持作物生产，并减少磷肥的需求。
