Micronutrients and Diazotrophs Affecting Maize Plant Growth in Alluvial and Calcareous Soils

 
                                                                           

A GREENHOUSE pot experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of a combination among a mixture of 3 micronutrients (Mn, Zn and Cu) added as sulphate salts and two diazotrophic bacteria (Free-living Azotobacter + associative Azospirillum) on maize (Zea mays L.) plants. Six treatments of the micronutrients mixture and bacteria with six replicates were applied to each of two soils (alluvial clay and calcareous sandy). Treated plants were collected at 30 and 45 days after sowing. Fresh and dry weights and nutrient contents of maize plants were determined. The obtained results proved the enhancing influence of the different treatments on the fresh and dry matters of the plants. Likewise, the concentration and uptake of N, P, K, Mn, Zn and Cu of the plant shoots, were augmented by all treatments applied at the two periods of growth. On the other hand, all the assessed parameters of the plants grown on the alluvial soil excelled those on the calcareous one