Effects of Bay Leaf (Laurus nobilis L.), Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Peel and Banana (Musa Species) Peel Extracts on Physiological Performance of Some Upland (Ahu) Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Crop under Higher Iron in Acid Soil Condition

Abstract— A pot experiment (CRBD with three replications) was carried out to investigate the effects of Bay leaf, Potato peel, and Banana peel extracts on the physiological performance of some upland (Ahu) rice crop (varieties: Inglongkiri, Dehangi (Fe tolerant), Lachit (Fe susceptible), and Luit) under higher iron in acid soil conditions during the Autumn season (March-September, 2024). The five treatments were: (1) 100 ppm FeSO₄ as basal at vegetative stage (control), (2) 100 ppm FeSO₄ as basal at vegetative stage plus root dip treatment before transplanting and foliar spray with bay leaf extract at 20 days after transplanting, (3) 100 ppm FeSO₄ as basal at vegetative stage plus root dip treatment before transplanting and foliar spray with banana peel extract at 20 days after transplanting, (4) 100 ppm FeSO₄ as a basal at the vegetative stage, plus root dip treatment before transplanting and foliar spray with potato peel extract at 20 days after transplanting; (5) Natural soil without root dip treatment and without spray with bay leaf, banana peel, and potato peel extracts at 20 days after transplanting (Absolute control). In general, as compared to the control (100 ppm FeSO₄), there were significant increases in the morpho-physiological and yield-attributing parameters under other treatments. Among the treatments, 100 ppm FeSO₄ as basal at vegetative stage plus aqueous bay leaf (10 g in 100 ml) was found to be the most useful against the damaging effects of higher iron pertaining to the physiological parameters. In the study, Dehangi emerged as the prominent variety in terms of the various physiological parameters viz., SLW at maximum tillering (6.753 mg cm⁻²) and heading stage (8.673 mg cm⁻²), shoot biomass (35.513 g plant⁻¹) at harvest, numbers of tillers (12.707) and number of leaves (24.040 per plant) at maximum tillering stage, effective tillers (11.487 per plant), root biomass (20.413 g plant⁻¹) at harvest, panicle length (28.607 cm), panicle weight (8.960 g plant⁻¹), number of panicle (9.300/plant), seeds per panicle (85.313), test weight (26.893 g), HD grains (75.460%), sterility (22.460%), economic yield (16.593 g plant⁻¹), biological yield (45.007 g plant⁻¹), GHI (48.547) and plant height (3.81-8.25%) at harvest.