Response of maize plant grown under water deficit stress to compost and melatonin under terraces and alternate furrow irrigation techniques

Elsherpiny, Mohamed Atef; Helmy, Amal

doi:10.21608/ejss.2022.165573.1544

Response of maize plant grown under water deficit stress to compost and melatonin under terraces and alternate furrow irrigation techniques

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Soil, Water and environment Research Institute, Agric. Res. Center, Egypt

² Soil dept. Fac. of Agric Mansoura University , Mansoura . Egypt

10.21608/ejss.2022.165573.1544

Abstract

The current trend is to find suitable irrigation techniques that conserve irrigation water and improve its efficiency. So, a field experiment was conducted in the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura Univ., El-Dakahlya Governorate, Egypt during the season of 2022 aiming to evaluate the growth performance and productivity of maize as affected by different irrigation regimes i.e., terraces, traditional furrow and alternative furrow techniques as main plots under soil addition of compost as sub plot (once in the presence of compost at rate of 7.0 ton fed-1 and other in the absence of compost) with foliar application of melatonin at different levels (1.0 and 2.0 mmol L-1) as sub subplot. The results showed that plants grown under alternative furrow irrigation technique without compost and melatonin had the highest values of enzymatic antioxidants i.e., superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase enzyme (POD) and catalase enzyme (CAT) at the period of 70 days from sowing while the maize plants grown under terraces irrigation technique with compost and simultaneously sprayed with melatonin at rate of 2.0 mmol L-1 possessed the lowest values of these enzymatic antioxidants. On the contrary, the maximum values of growth parameters and chemical constitutes at 70 days from sowing (fresh and dry weight, leaf area chlorophyll content ,N,P,K) as well as yield and its components and bio chemical traits of grains at harvest stage e.g., weight of 1000 grain , cob length, No. of rows cob-1 , grain and biological yield, total carbohydrates, protein and oil content in grain were recorded when the maize plants were grown under terraces irrigation technique with compost and simultaneously sprayed with melatonin at rate of 2.0 mmol L-1.

Generally, it can be concluded that maize plant irrigation should be with the terraces technique to save irrigation water and simultaneously addition of compost as water absorbent substance and foliar application of melatonin as a biological hormone regulates plant physiology under water deficit.

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