CaSi Corp. has commercially sold its product for rice production since 1987. Some soils cropped to rice in the tropics and sub-tropics have been shown to be particularly poor in plant available silicon. The benefits that silicon fertilization provides to these soils include dramatic increases in rice yield, prevention of Fe and Mn toxicity, and better uptake of P.

Another important beneficial effect which also impacts on yields relates to disease management. The overwhelming evidence seems to indicate that silicon reduces the severity of several economically important diseases such as blast, brown spot, and stem rot.It has been demonstrated that disease tends to decrease with increasing concentration of silicon in the plant tissue.

Similar observations have been made for many insect pests. In this era of serious environmental concerns, silicon application appears to be an available option for disease management by reducing fungicide use and therefore potential environmental threats to agricultural land and water.