Abstract

Drought, a major abiotic constraint in upland rice field, increases production losses and sometimes causes complete crop failure. Information on response of upland New Rice for Africa (NERICA) cultivar to silicon and compost is scanty. An experiment conducted under greenhouse condition investigated the effects of silicon and compost augmentation on performance of upland rice water-stressed at different growth stages. The study was a 3 x 4 factorial fitted into CRD with four replicates. Growth and yield parameters of NERICA at vegetative stage were significantly highest in water-stressed soil amended with compost. Leaf rolling and dried tips were highest at grain filling stage in moisture deficit soil fertilized with NPK+silicon. Soil moisture deficit beyond vegetative stage reduced growth, yield and dry matter accumulation of NERICA. Upland NERICA tolerated drought better under compost and NPK+Si fortification. Application of compost significantly reduced effects of water deficit in upland rice by 55.7% at the heading stage and by 96.5% at grain filling phase.