نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 استادیار، گروه کشاورزی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایران
2 دانشیار، گروه ژنتیک و تولید گیاهی، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه ولیعصر رفسنجان، رفسنجان، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Introduction
Salinity is a major threat to food security, specially in arid and semi-arid regions. Soil salinity is mainly caused by the low rainfall, excessive application of chemical fertilizers, irrigation with saline groundwater, industrial wastewater and deforestation. Agriculture in saline soils has always been a major challenge due to the multiple effects of salinity on soil and plants. Silicon (Si), the second most abundant mineral element in the earth’s crust, mitigates the effects of salinity by improving the plant’s adaptive mechanism against biotic and abiotic stresses. Recently, nanoparticles of different minerals ranging from 1 to 100 nm have been extensively used in sustainable agriculture. Stress modulators such as nanosilicon are used to enhance plant growth and grain yield as well as increase resistance to abiotic stresses. Maize (Zea mays L.) contributes one-third of grain production worldwide and is the main source of nutrition for humans and livestock. Moreover, maize is more sensitive to salinity stress compared to other abiotic stresses. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of nanosilicon application on agronomic and morphological traits of different maize cultivars, determine effective traits on grain yield and select high-yielding cultivars for cultivation in saline soils.
Materials and methods
This experiment was carried out in split plot based on a randomized complete blocks design with three replications in Abarkouh county, Yazd province, Iran. Nanosilicon at two levels including no application of nanosilicon (control) and application of nanosilicon (50 mg/l equivalent to 165 ml of nanosilicon solution) was considered as the main factor and corn cultivars at eight levels including KSC670, KSC647, KSC500, KSC705, KSC400, KSC704, KSC604 and KSC700 as sub-factor. Nanosilicon was applies as foliar spray on the leaves at two growth stages, 8-10 leaves and silk emergence. Each experimental unit consisted of five rows with a length of 5 m, with a spacing of 75 cm between rows and 20 cm between plants on the rows. The studied traits included the number of rows per ear, number of grains per row, number of grains per ear, ear length and diameter, plant height, 1000-grain weight and grain yield.
Research findings
The results revealed that the effect of nonosilicon and cultivar on all studied traits were significant, while the interaction of nanosilicon × cultivar was only significant on ear length, plant height and 1000-grain weight. All studied traits increased with the application of nanosilicon. According to the results of the comparison of mean, KSC704 and KSC705 cultivars had the highest grain yield and yield components under both treatments of no-application and application of nanosilicon. Correlation analysis between traits showed that grain yield in both treatments of no-application and application of nanosilicon had a positive and significant correlation with the number of rows per ear, number of grains per row, number of grains per ear, and ear length and diameter. Based on the results of stepwise regression analysis, the number of rows per ear in no-application of nanosilicon treatment (control), and the number of rows per ear and 1000-grain weight in nanosilicon application treatment had a significant effect on grain yield. The result of path analysis showed that the number of rows per ear was the most important trait affecting grain yield of the studied maize cultivars under both no-application and application of nanosilicon conditions. Based on the results of cluster analysis, the studied cultivars under both no-application and application of nanosilicon conditions were classified into three groups.
Conclusion
The results of this study showed that the number of rows per ear can be used to achieve high yield in maize in both no-application and application of nanosilicon treatments. According to the results of cluster analysis, three cultivars KSC 700, KSC704 and KSC705 were superior to other cultivars for most of the studied traits under both treatments, and can be recommended for achieving higher grain yield in saline soil under both no-application and application of nanosilicon conditions.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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