Effect of Super Absorbent Polymer and Bio fertilization on Maize Productivity and Soil Fertility under Drought Stress Conditions

Yaseen, Rabaa; Hegab, Rehab; Kenawey, Mohammed; Eissa, Doaa

doi:10.21608/ejss.2020.35386.1372

Effect of Super Absorbent Polymer and Bio fertilization on Maize Productivity and Soil Fertility under Drought Stress Conditions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Soil Fertility and Microbiology Department, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt

² Soil Fertility and Microbiology Dept., Water Resources and Desert Soils Division, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

³ Plant production Dept., Environment and Arid Land Agriculture Division. Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

⁴ Desert Research Center

10.21608/ejss.2020.35386.1372

Abstract

This study was aimed to investigate the response of maize to supper absorbent polymer (SAP) and exopolysaccharides (EPS) producing bacteria under drought stress conditions at Panjar El -Soukkar region, Alexandria government, Egypt. The functional groups and heavy metal contents of SAP were determined. The swelling capacity of the polymer increased with increasing the hydrolysis time up to 30 minutes and the de-swelling water ratios of the polymer varied from 0.25 to 8 days. EPS-producing bacteria, Klebsiella oxytoca, Serratia marcescens, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were selected and classified based on their phenotypic, biochemical, and also their molecular criteria. The EPS production by the selected isolates ranged from 0.85 to 1.24 g/100ml and the total activity of antioxidant of the extracted EPS ranged from 1.464 to 1.827%. The bacterial isolates could tolerate up to -2.24 MPa of water stress and their production of EPS increased with increasing drought stress levels. Different plant growth promoting parameters of selected isolates were evaluated. Two field experiments were conducted during 2018 and 2019 summer growing seasons. The obtained data revealed that drought stress had significant adverse effects on growth and yield parameters of maize plant, NPK uptake by grains, nutrient availability and microbial activities in soil. Seed bacterization of maize with EPS-producing bacterial isolates in combination with SAP improved all measured characters compared to PGPR inocula or SAP used alone. The findings suggested that applying superabsorbent polymer in combination with EPS-producing bacteria could improve tolerance of maize plant toward drought.

Keywords