Effects of zeolite and biofertilizers on yield components, yield and nutrients uptake in grains of two corn cultivars (cv. 6010 and ns71)

Abstract

In order to study the effects of zeolite and biofertilizers on yield components, yield and nutrients uptake in grains of two corn cultivars (cv. 6010 and ns71), a field experiment was conducted as split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Neka, Mazandaran province, Iran in 2017 and 2018. The corn cultivars cv. 6010 and ns71 were the main plots and applications of zeolite and biofertilizers in 6 combinations including the zeolite application, Bacillus sp., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), applications of zeolite + Bacillus sp., applications of zeolite + AMF and applications of zeolite + Bacillus sp. + AMF were considered as sub-plots. The results showed that by applications of zeolite + Bacillus sp. + AMF, increased the yield components and seed yield of corn. The maximum seed yield (4.48 t ha−1) was obtained with simultaneous application of zeolite and biofertilizers, and the yield decreased with separate application of zeolite by 31.2%. Among two cultivars used in the experiment, the ns71 cultivar was superior to 6010 cultivar in terms of seed yield. The seed nitrogen content was significantly increased in both cultivars during the two cropping seasons by AMF application. The combined application of zeolite + Bacillus sp. + AMF resulted in the highest amount of seed phosphorus (0.3910 ppm) in the ns71 cultivar in the second year of experiment. Therefore, the combined application of zeolite and biofertilizers is recommended to increase the quantitative and qualitative yield of corn.