Abstract
Zea mays variety 704 (single cross) was studied to investigate effect of chemical fertilizers and growth-promoting bacteria on yield and yield components of corn ( Zea mays ). A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with three replications at Tehran-Varamin Research Farm (Iran) in 2017. The treatments were as follows: inoculation of the seeds with growth promoters in four levels: Rhizobium , Azospirillum , Azotobacter and Pseudomonas ; Rhizobium , Azospirillum and Pseudomonas ; Rhizobium , Azotobacter and Pseudomonas ; Azospirillum , Azotobacter and Pseudomonas and use of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers at four levels: no use, 1/3, 2/3, and 100 % recommended were applied. The results showed that the use of fertilizer was significant on the traits such as several leaves per plant, number of seeds per row, number of seeds per ear, plant height and forage yield at 1 % level. The results indicated that the highest forage yield of 33.78 t ha-1 was obtained from the interaction between the use of fertilizers and biological fertilizers, Rhizobium , Azospirillum , Azotobacter and Pseudomonas , which was 42 % higher than control.
Highlights
Application of chemical fertilizers increases plant yields, promotes quickly availability of nutrients to plants [1, 2]
Plant height Based on the results of the analysis of variance, plant height was affected by the use of chemical and biological fertilizers at 1 % level and their interaction effects were significant at 5 % level (Table 2)
The results of the main effects showed that with the increasing use of fertilizer, the plant height increased so that the highest plant height with an average of 208 cm was related to the recommended level of fertilizer and the lowest of it with an average of 185.08 cm belonged to non-fertilizer treatment
Summary
Application of chemical fertilizers increases plant yields, promotes quickly availability of nutrients to plants [1, 2]. Corn requires urgent N uptake during one to two weeks before flowering, and 3-4 weeks of flowering [6, 7] These soil bacterial species burgeoning in plant rhizosphere, which grow in, on or around the plant stimulate plant growth by a plethora of mechanisms that are collectively known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) [8]. Biological fertilizers increase the effects of organic and chemical fertilizers on agricultural production by increasing the activity of growth-promoting bacteria [13]. The researchers stated that inoculation of sorghum seeds with Rhizobium bacteria did not fix the nitrogen in the roots, but the bacterium could naturally increase growth hormones such as auxin, cytokine and riboflavin molecules, oligosaccharides and vitamins, which increased root development and increased adsorption of phosphorus [21]. The yield of corn fodder was recorded in Iran (Tehran, Varamin City) [11]
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