ABSTRACT
Plant nutrients are divided into two groups known as essential and beneficial elements. The essential nutrients required by plants to complete their normal life cycles include carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo), chlorine (Cl), and nickel (Ni) (Fageria, Baligar, and Jones 2011). Beneficial elements are required by some plants to enhance their growth. These elements are not considered essential according to the definition established by Arnon and Stout (1939). The beneficial elements are silicon (Si), cobalt (Co), aluminum (Al), selenium (Se), sodium (Na), and vanadium (V). The role of these essential nutrients in crop production/rice production has been discussed in the previous chapters in this volume. Of the beneficial elements, silicon has more (or specific) benefits for rice production compared with other beneficial elements.
