Water Stress and N Fertilization Effects on Yield and Smut Disease Incidence in Corn (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

AbstractA 2‐year field experiment was conducted in sandy clay loam soil to quantify the single and combined effects of N fertilization and water stress (WS) treatments on yield and smut incidence in corn. The plants were supplied with two different N rates (225 and 300 kg ha−1) and subjected to 2 weeks' water stress, imposed at vegetative (Vg), tasselling (Ta), silking (Si) and grain‐filling (Gf) growth stages. In addition, a control treatment (Cr) was also included to allow the plants to grow under unstressed conditions. The plants were artificially infected two times with Ustilago maydis spores and smut severity was recorded. At harvest, grain yield (GY), total biomass (Tbm) and harvest index (HI) were determined in smut‐free (0) and smutted plants (S). Results have shown that GY0 and GYs were markedly reduced when the plants were subjected to WS. The depressing effects of WS were, comparatively, high at Gf. intermediate at Ta and Si. and low at Vg growth stages. Smut index (SI) data revealed that severity was higher on plants stressed at Gf than those exposed to WS at Vg, Ta or Si stages. Considerable variations were detected on Tbm and HI of smut‐free and smutted plants, indicating the detrimental effect of plant water deficit at Gf stage. The combined effect of WS and N on Tbms showed mixed results, ranging from positive response for stressed plants at Si and Gf to little response at Cr, Vg or Ta stages at higher N rate. Although the effect of WS exposure on RYL data was dominant at Gf, the rate of yield depression was relatively higher at Ta and Si than the other growth stages, because of water deficit effects. The results proved that N fertilization did not conclusively alleviate the depressing effect of WS on grain yield losses.