Sci. Agri. 13 (2), 2016: 59-73 © PSCI Publications Scientia Agriculturae www.pscipub.com/SA E-ISSN:2310-953X / P-ISSN: 2311-0228 DOI: 10.15192/PSCP.SA.2016.13.2.5973 Alleviation of abiotic and biotic stresses in plants by silicon supplementation Chanchal Malhotra CH, RitiThapar Kapoor*, Deepak Ganjewala Plant Physiology LaboratoryAmity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity UniversityNoida - 201 313Uttar Pradesh, India *Corresponding author email:rkapoor@amity.edu Paper Information A B S T R A C T Received: 14 October, 2015 Accepted: 21 December, 2015 Published: 15 February, 2016 Citation Malhotra Ch, Kapoor RTh, Ganjewala D. 2016. Alleviation of abiotic and biotic stresses in plants by silicon supplementation. Scientia Agriculturae, 13 (2), 59-73. Retrieved from www.pscipub.com (DOI: 10.15192/PSCP.SA.2016.13.2.5973) Silicon has been considered as beneficial element for the plants. The supplementation of silicon as nutrient to the plants may play a significant role which includes increase in crop growth and yield, improvement of leaf exposure to light, decreased susceptibility to pathogens and pests and amelioration to abiotic and biotic stresses. The most significant effect of silicon on plants, besides improving their fitness in adverse environmental conditions and increasing agricultural productivity of plants is the restriction of pest attack and prevention of diseases. Unfortunately the significance of silicon nutrition in crop production and mitigation of abiotic and biotic stresses remains unexplored. Hence there is an urgent need to use silicon fertilizers for improvement in crop production. The understanding of the beneficial effects of silicon is important to improve crop productivity as it may enhance plant nutritional value for a growing world population. © 2016 PSCI Publisher All rights reserved. Key words:Alleviation, abiotic and biotic stresses, silicon Introduction Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy as it contributes about one fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in India and provides livelihood to approximately 70% of the population directly or indirectly (Narayana Gowda, 2013). The growth in the agricultural sector is essential for the growth and development of nation (Nerker et al. 2013). The population of India has already been crossed 1.27 billion and is still increasing alarmingly that put a great pressure on the food grain production. India achieved a remarkable success in food grain production from 51 million tonnes in 1951-1952 to 263.2 million tonnes in 2013-2014 due to significant efforts by the scientists in the field of agriculture (Ayyappan, 2013). Indian agriculture is still facing a multitude of problems to maximize productivity to feed the continuously increasing population (Brahmanand et al. 2013).The reports reveal that farmers use more than two million tonnes of chemical pesticides each year for getting maximum production. The continuous use of chemical inputs causesill health of human-beings, negative impact on agricultural production, loss of beneficial microbes in the soil, reduction in agricultural sustainability and disturb the entire ecosystem. The toxic impact of pesticides adversely affect both flora and fauna as it enters in the body of human-beings through the food chain. Long-term contact to pesticides can disturb the function of different organs in the body including nervous, endocrine, immune, reproductive, renal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems.There is evidence on the link between the pesticide's exposure with the incidence of human chronic diseases such as cancer, Parkinson, Alzheimer, diabetes, aging, cardiovascular and kidney diseases (Mostafalou and Abdollahi, 2012a).Farmers are intensifying land use practices without proper nutrient management in their fields which results in depletion of nutrients from the soil and it is also linked to the decline in crop yield (Meena et al. 2014). It has been observed that the decline in the crop yield may also be due to the lack or depletion of plant available silicon.Farmers do not provide exogenous silicon to the crops because there is an old belief that the soil itself can maintain the supply of silicon.The traditional practice of collecting the ashes from the backyard of houses and its utilization in fields provides silicon supply to the plants. Farmers are unaware of the beneficial effects of silicon for the soil health. Tropical and subtropical soils undergo intensive management and monoculture practices that are subjected to weathering and leaching usually have high levels of aluminium, phosphorus-fixation capacity and high acidity levels but low levels of available silicon due to the process of desilication (Epstein, 1999). According to the reports of FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization, United States), approximately 210-224 million tonnes of silicon is removed from the arable soils all around the world and soils become low in available silicon content with less fertility. Earlier workers have reported the positive effects of silicon on the growth and development of crop plants (Guntzer et al. 2012; Korndorfer and Lepsch, 2001;