Paper ID: 203
Nano Silica Application for Inducing Rice Resistance and the Possibility for Ytterbium Rare Earth Elements Green Mining
S D Candra and T Musriati
Faculty of Agriculture, Panca Marga University – Jl Yos Sudarso 107 Dringu Probolinggo 67271, East Java, Indonesia.
Email: sulis.d.candra@gmail.com
There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance and usage of Silicon (Si) in plants to increase growth and productivity as well as plant resistance. Si in the form of Nano Silica particle recently becomes more frequently prescribed for inducing plant resistance and is essential for a range of technologies. This research examines the role of Nano Silica in rice for plant-induced resistance. This study set out to assess the effect of hydrophilic fumed Nano Silica application with the frequency of 1x, 2x, 3x, and 4x application respectively, through Randomized Block Design with three replications. SEM-EDX and XRF analysis were also used to identify the rice microanalysis appearance and microelement contents. Based on the observations, the Nano Silica frequencies showed a distinctive decrease of damage intensity at the 3x and 4x applications. The research also shows that the rice husk increase of metal-like surface appearance as more Nano Silica frequency was applied. Based on the finding it is proposed that Nano Silica induced plant resistance through the modification of surface layer or stronger physical barrier against pathogens or pests and stronger plant tolerance against environmental stress. The most unexpected observation to emerge from the data was that the emergence of Ytterbium (Yb), known as a Rare Earth Elements (REE) at the 3x and 4x Nano Silica applications. This indicates that the result of the Nano Silica application provides important insights and opportunities to advance the understanding of the Nano Silica application on Rice for the purpose of acquiring Ytterbium from farmland. Nano Silica can play an important role as a new method in addressing the Ytterbium green mining, which would be very advantageous to support renewable energy resources.