Abstract

The production of high quality seeds is an important strategy for organic seed producers. In particular, organic farming is a production system which avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and plant growth regulators. Alternative management organic farming system is reducing nutrient loss and improving soil quality. Zeolite is organic matter and alternative for organic upland rice production. Our objective was to determine the effects of zeolite on seed quality of organic upland rice varieties: Dokkam and Nangchuan. The study involved using Randomized Complete Block design (RCB) with four replications and four treatments: 1) Chemicals method by using fertilizer (15N-15P-15K) rated 4.80 kg/ha for control (T1) 2) Cattle manure rated 160 kg/ha (T2) 3) Zeolite rated 16 kg/ha (T3) 4) Zeolite rated 32 kg/ha (T4). The fertilizer was applied at the rate of 160 kg/ha of cow manure (T1 to T4) and were applied at the rated of 16 and 32 kg/ha of zeolite (T3 and T4), respectively, (mixing into the soil before growing). The experiment was done at the experimental plots of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Prince of Chumphon Campus, Thailand during July to November, 2012. The results showed that both varieties of organic upland rice seed quality, all four treatments had high quality, which were not significantly different among the treatments. The 1,000-seed weight ranged from of 22.30 to 25.24 mg, standard germination of 91.50 to9 5. 50%, soil emergence of 90.00 to 94.00%, speed of germination index of 6.79 to 11.30, seedling dry weight of 4.38 to 5.88 mg/seeding, conductivity of 5.49 to 9.07 μmo/cm/gm and age acceleration of 92.00 to 99.00%. These results confirm that a zeolite could replace the application of chemical fertilizers which could be used to produce agricultural products to satisfy the needs of the consumers who want to consume safe food, besides minimizing pollution of agricultural environment and economic costs.

Keywords:

Organic farming, organic upland rice, seed quality, zeolite,

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The authors have no competing interests.

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