Exploiting Biostimulants and Micronutrients for Optimal Rice Yield in Sodic Soil : A Strategic Approach to Salt Stress Resilience

Sodicity, marked by elevated Na + over Ca 2+ in soil can disrupt the uptake and availability of essential micronutrients, hampering potential yield of rice yield in sodicity conditions.A field experiment was undertaken to evaluate the impact of promising biostimulants and micronutrients on rice yield in sodic soil, aiming to enhance productivity in challenging conditions.The biostimulants including salt tolerant halophilic microbial consortia (HMC) isolated from sodic soils of Z.A.R.S., V. C. Farm, Mandya, Karnataka and humic acid (@ 0.2%) extracted from vermicompost, were applied solely and also in combination with foliar spray of micronutrients mixture (FS of MM-Zn:Mn: Cu:B:Mo-14:5:4:1.2:0.2 @ 1%).Foliar spray of MM improved most of the yield parameters of rice as compared to soil application of Zn, RDF and solely application of biostimulants, however its efficacy was improved when used along with biostimulants.It was found that combined use of biostimulants and micronutrients mixture (T 9 -HMC+HA+MM) most effective in increasing yield parameters viz., number of panicles per m 2 (284.53),panicle length (25.98 cm), panicle weight (3.33 g), total number of grains (156) and filled grains per panicle (137), along with the lowest per cent chaffyness (12.17 %).The culmination of these positive effects resulted in a significant increase in both rice's grain (48.65 q ha -1 ) and straw yield (66.89 q ha -1 ) in T 9 (HMC+HA+MM) followed by treatment receiving HMC+MM (T 7 ).Further, correlation studies revealed a negative relationship between yield and yield parameters with Na/K and Na/Ca values underscoring the importance of down regulating sodium concentration with application of biostimulants and micronutrients to optimize rice yield in sodic conditions.