Response of maize (Zea mays L.) plant to spraying with biostimulants (Armourbox), mannitol and soil fertilization with nano-K fertilizers

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at one of the private fields in Azizia, Wasit province on 15th June 2016 to study the response of maize (Zea mays L.) plant when sprayed with bio-stimulants, mannitol and allowed to grow in soil treated with nano-fertilizer. The maize plant was sprayed with bio-stimulants of 0, 2 and 4 ml/l concentrations and mannitol at concentrations of 0, 10 and 20 Mm, whereas the soil was treated with nano-fertilizer at the concentrations of 0, 1.5 and 3 mg/l. This was performed in order to study their individual and combinatorial (either two-way or three-way) effects on plant height, dry shoot weight, percentage of protein & carbohydrates in grains, average oil in grains and number of grains in yield. It was found that when using all the three elements individually too, increased the vegetative characteristics and the chemical content of the maize especially in high concentrations. The same results were obtained when there were two-way interactions too. However, there was no significant effect when there was three-way interaction except the dry weight of the shoot and the number of grains. In these two factors, the three-way interaction achieved significant effect in high concentrations of 19.553 g/plant and 439.33, respectively, compared with control treatment of 15.123 g/plant and 419.00, respectively. The treatments were designed as factorial experiment (3×3×3×3) in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the response of maize (Zea mays L.) plant when spraying biostimulants and mannitol and when allowed to grow in soil treated with nano-fertilizer.