Trends of declining rice yields observed in Asia and increasing pesticide pollution from rice cultivation are matters of concern. The application of plant-available silicon may alleviate some of these problems, but has not yet become commonplace due to the lack of cheap and soluble silicon compounds. Innovative work suggests that fused calcium silicate ground to a fine powder may provide a soil treatment that will correct the problem of depleted silicon in rice paddies. Fused calcium silicate also shows promising results in sugar cane, barley, wheat and other Gramineae crops. However, there is still a need to determine how fused calcium silicate can be incorporated into the economy and operations of rice cultivation.
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