Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of two foliar fertilizers applied on five maize (Zea mays L.) lines. Fertilizers were applied at different growth stages of maize, during three consecutive years (2010–2012) at the experimental field of the Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, Serbia. Maize growth parameters such as fresh matter, height, leaf area and grain yield were recorded. Foliar fertilizer with amino acids (FAA) was more advantageous to maize plants compared to fertilizer containing phosphorus (FP) as a main component. Applied FAA has shown positive effects by increasing fresh matter, leaf area index, and plant height in all three years. In 2012, due to unfavorable meteorological conditions, grain yield and harvest index were very low, compared to the previous two years, although, positive effects on morphological traits were observed 21 days after treatments (DAT), as well as in the anthesis stage. The best results of 30% of grain yield and harvest index increase were recorded in line L1 in 2010 and 2011. The same line had an increase of more than 40% of fresh matter and leaf area on average for all three years. The positive effects that have been noticed in this research could recommend foliar fertilizing with fertilizer containing N in a form of an amino acids complex.
Highlights
Nutrients have an important role in plant growth and development
Since various positive effects of foliar fertilization were reported, the aim of this research was to test the effects of two foliar fertilizers on five maize inbred lines by measuring dynamics of growth parameters, such as fresh matter, height, leaf area index, as well as grain yield and harvest index
It can be concluded that foliar fertilizing with fertilizer which contains
Summary
Nutrients have an important role in plant growth and development. In most cases, when soil is optimally supplied with available nutrients, plants have a higher possibility to reach a genetic yield potential and quality [1]. Plant nutrition provides optimal conditions for growth and development which makes it an important part of an Integrated Pest Management strategy [2]. Some soils have characteristics such as low or high pH, presence of poorly available minerals or have undergone certain processes (erosion, leaching, etc.), which make nutrients depleted [3]. Plants lack of an optimal levels of essential nutrients, micro-elements [6,7], which could be supplied by foliar fertilization. Micro elements availability in soil is closely related to their solubility
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