Paddy yield as affected by boron application directly sown on raised bed under saline sodic soils

A field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of different levels of horon (0.5,1,1.5 and 2 kg b/ha) on growth,yield and ionic concentration of rice directly sown on raised heds under saline sodic soils (ece=5.65 ds/m,ph=8.57 and sar=17.38) at malik farm,farooqahad during 2009. treatments were arranged using randomized complete block design (rcbd) with three replications. the crop was harvested at maturity and data on tillering,plant height,spike length,number of grains/spike,1000-grain weight,straw and paddy yields were recorded. tillering,number of grains/spike,1000-grain weight and paddy yield significantly (p ≤ = 0.05) increased by different levels of b. 1000 grains weight (29 g) and grain yield was the maximum (4.65 t/ha) at the application of 1.5 kg b/ha and 31% more than control treatment. maximum plant height (141 cm) and numbers of grains/spike (203) were recorded with b application @ 1 kg/ha,b concentration in grain and straw increased with increasing the rate of boron application. positive correlation (r = 0.856) was found between b contents in grain and paddy grain yield. economical analysis showed that maximum value cost ratio (14.9:1) this achieved with the application of 1.5 kg b/ha.