Micronutrient cation survey of lowland rice in sierra leone

Abstract

Lowland rice plants were sampled at two growth stages and analyzed for Zn, Cu, Mn, and Fe. Most of the sites were deficient in Cu and one‐third of the sites were rated deficient in Zn. All sites were in the adequate range with respect to Mn. Many Fe values were in the excess to toxic range. Average content of micronutrient cations in rice plants was uniformly greater 30 days after the rice was transplanted than 60 days after transplanting. Correlations between extractable Mn in lowland soils and Mn in associated rice plants were highly significant with the DTPA extractant and significant with the HCl method, both 30 and 60 days after the rice was transplanted. With HCl, extractable Fe in lowland soils was highly correlated with Fe in associated rice plants, but this relationship was not as close with the DTPA extractant. In lowland soils, extractable Zn increased significantly and consistently with increases in Cu and Mn extracted with DTPA and HCl. Extractable Zn also increased significantly with increases in Fe when the HCl extractant was used, but not with DTPA.