Department of Agriculture RFO-5

Regional Soils Laboratory

In the omission plot where N has not been applied , leaves are yellowish green.
An N-deficient plants, leaves are smaller. 
Tillering is reduced where N is deficient. Greater tillering where N fertilizer has
been applied.
Tillering is reduced where P is deficient.
Even under less pronounced P deficiency, stems are thin and spindly, and plant
development is retarded.
Plants are stunted, small, and erect compared with normal plants.
Leaf margins become yellowish brown,
Dark brown spots appear on the leaf surface.
Leaf bronzing is also a characteristic of K deficiency.
K deficiency symptoms are more likely to occur in hybrid rice (on the left) than in
modern inbred varieties (on the right).
Rice yields are often constrained by unbalanced fertilization where the response to N
and P is constrained insufficient K.
K-deficient rice plant roots may be Incomparison,  healthy rice roots are
covered with black iron sulfide. covered with red-brown iron oxide.
Uneven field growth, plant stunting (foreground).
Appearance of dusty brown spots on upper leaves
The leaf canopy appears pale yellow due to yellowing of the youngest leaves and plant
height and tillering are reduced. 
Chlorosis is more pronounced in young leaves, where the leaf tips may become necrotic.
Si deficiency often results in decreased resistance to diseases such as Bipolaris oryzae
Droopy leaves on Si-deficient rice plant (left), compared with normal rice plant (right).
Si deficiency is characterized by brown spots on leaves. 
On organic soils in Florida, rice plants treated with Si amendments were more resistant to
grisea (lighter colored fields), compared with untreated fields (darker colored fields) (©
Elsevier Science)
Orange-yellow interveinal chlorosis usually appears first on older leaves.
Chlorosis may also appear on the flag leaf.
Mg deficiency may also be induced by large applications of K fertilizer on low Mg status
soils.
Symptoms only occur under severe Ca deficiency when the tips of the youngest leaves
may become chlorotic-white.
Deficiency is mainly a problem on upland soils. 
Under conditions of severe Fe deficiency, plants are stunted with narrow leaves. 
Symptoms appears as interveinal yellowing of emerging leaves.
Deficiency is mainly a problem in rice grown in upland and organic soils with low Mn
status
Leaves are affected by interveinal chlorosis that appears first at the tip of younger leaves.
Deficiency mainly occurs in organic soils
Chlorotic streaks and dark brown necrotic lesions may develop on the tips of younger leaves
New leaves may have a needlelike appearance
Tiny brown or reddish brown spots develop on the leaf tip and spread towards the leaf
base
Symptoms first appear on older leaves.
Under severe Fe toxicity, the whole leaf surface is affected. 
Leaf bronzing occurs in K- deficient rice plants which are unable to maintain
sufficient root oxidation power.
Roots of affected plants are coarse, sparse, and blackened.
Brownish leaf tips are a typical characteristic of B toxicity, appearing as marginal
chlorosis on the tips of older leaves.
2-4 weeks later, brown elliptical spots develop on the discolored areas.
Interveinal yellowish brown spots develop on lower leaf blades and leaf sheaths.
Aluminum toxicity is mainly a problem in acid upland soils but varieties differ in their
susceptibility
Yellow to white mottling of interveins is followed by leaf tip death.
Leaf margin scorch.
 Indicator plants, e.g. tropical bracken (Dicranopteris linearis), Straits
rhododhendron (Melastoma malabathricum), and alang-alang (Imperata
cylindrica) provide a proxy indicator of acid soil conditions and low soil P status. 
Rice growth is characteristically patchy in soils affectd by salinity. 
Where saline irrigation water is used, patches of affected plants are found adjacent to
water inlets.