Silicon-mediated lodging resistance in field crops: mechanisms, agronomic management, and environmental interactions

Lodging is a major problem in the production of cereals and oilseed crops. It causes significant quality and yield losses through stem breakage or root failure. Silicon (Si) has been shown to play an important role in strengthening plant structure, improving stem rigidity, and reducing the risk of lodging. Recent studies have demonstrated that soil and foliar applications of silicon enhance cell wall lignification by increasing silica, lignin, and cellulose content in stem tissues. Silicon also improves water-use efficiency, modulates plant hormonal balance, and enhances nutrient uptake under both optimal and stress conditions. Silicon mitigates lodging caused by heavy nitrogen application and dense planting by maintaining the proper balance between vegetative growth and stem strength. Unlike earlier reviews, it combines insights from both conventional and nano-silicon research, emphasizing the interactions of Si with Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, and biochar. The review identifies knowledge gaps in Si bioavailability and transporter gene regulation, and, in place of a purely descriptive inventory of single-factor findings, proposes an integrative crop × genotype × environment × management framework as the organizing basis for the future of Si-based nutrient management and breeding programs to improve lodging resistance and sustainable yields.