EJBS 6 (1) ● Jan 2013
www.ejarr.com/Volumes/Vol6/EJBS_6_03.pdf
Response of Maize Yield and Yield Components to Different Hydropriming
Durations in Rainfed Region of Bannu
K. Musharaf1, M. Asim*,1, F.M. Shah2, Saqeb Ullah1, K. Saadullah1 & Muhammad Subhan1
Department of Botany and 2Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Science & Technology,
Bannu, K.P.K.,Pakistan 28100
*E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: +91-928633321
1
ABSTRACT
A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of hydropriming durations on the yield and yield
components of land race of maize in Bannu. Seeds were hydroprimed for 0, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 and 40 hours.
Hydropriming duration techniques affected 1000 grain weight and grain yield significantly. Hydropriming durations
resulted in maximum cob’s weight (875.8 g), number of grains per cob (102.7), 1000 grain weight (290.8 g) and
grain yield (2392.2 kg ha-1), maximum 1000 grain weight (290.8 g) and maximum grain yield (2392.2 kg ha-1) was
observed in maize seed hydroprimed for 8 hours and 12 hours, respectively.
It may be recommended that for getting higher grain yield seeds should be hydroprimed for 12 hours.
Keywords: Hydropriming, Maize, Land race, Growth, Yield.
1. INTRODUCTION
Maize (Zea mays L.) belongs to family Poaceae tribe Maydeae and the genus Zea. Maize is the third most important
cereal crops in Pakistan after wheat and rice. It is multipurpose commodity and is widely cultivated throughout the
world. It has occupied and important place in the cropping system of this country. It is an important food grain crop
of Pakistan especially in Northern regions and occupies a unique position both in production and consumption.
As an industrial crop, maize serve as a major source of raw material for the manufacturing several products like corn
sugar, corn protein, corn flakes, corn oil and corn syrup etc. Maize has great promise for high yield and easy
cultivation than other cereal crop. In spite of its high potentialities, average corn yield in Pakistan is still very low as
cormpared to other maize producing countries of the world. The total production of Pakistan during 2007-2008 was
3605 tones. The average yield during 2007-2008 was 3424 kg ha-1. During the year 2007-2008 the total area in
Pakistan under maize crop was 1052 thousand hectare while total area in Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa was 461910
hectares and average yield was 1804 kg ha-1 (MINFAL, 2007-2008).
In Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa, the major maize grown areas are Hazara, Mardan, Swat and Peshawar including the
irrigated belts of Kohat, Bannu and D.I. Khan where suitable environmental conditions with adequate irrigation
facilities favor the production of maize.
The Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa has unique environment where rising of two maize crops in a year are possible by
adopting appropriate cultural practices.
The general purpose of seed priming is to hydrate partially the seed to a point where germination processes are
initiated but not completed. Most priming treatments involve imbibing seed with restricted amount of water to allow
sufficient hydration of metabolic processes but preventing the protrusion of radical. Treated seeds usually would
exhibit rapid germination when absorb water under field condition (Ashraf and Foolad, 2005). The aim of this
project is to screen out optimum hydropriming duration for growth and development of maize in arid region of
Bannu region.
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of responces of maize seeds to different
hydropriming durations for improving maize production in rainfed area of Bannu. Specific objectives were to
determine the effectiveness of several hydropriming durations such as (8, 16, 24, 32, 40 hours) on Number of cobs
per plant ,Cob weight (g), Number of grain per cob, Thousand grain weight (g) and Grain yield (kg ha-1),
respectively.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
To investigate responses of maize seeds (Zea mays L.) to different hydropriming durations, an experiment was
conducted at Botanical garden, department of Botany, UST Bannu during Kharif 2009. Seed of local maize variety
was collected from Sari Naurang Research Station. Maize seeds were hydroprimed for 0, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 and 40
hours. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having 3 replications. A plot
size of 3m x 5m having 4 rows 60cm apart was used with seed rate of 40kg ha-1 was used. Basal doses of 120kg ha-1
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EJBS 6 (1) ● Jan 2013
Musharaf & al. ● Response of Maize Yield and Yield Components
nitrogen and 60kg ha-1 phosphorous was applied in the time of sowing. Normal culture practices for raising a
successful crop were followed uniformly for all the experimental units. Seed were sown after three days of raining at
appropriate moisture capacity. Data was recorded on cobs plant -1, grains cob-1, cobs weight, thousand grain weight
and grain yield. Cobs plant-1 were counted from ten randomly selected plants. Grains cob-1 were calculated from five
cobs randomly selected from each treatment. Cob weights were taken by weighting five cobs selected from each
treatment and were averaged. Thousand grains weight were counted from each treatment and their weight was
recorded with the help of sensitive electrical balance to note thousand grain weight data. Grain yield were obtain
from each treatment after threshing and their weight was recorded, which was later converted into grain yield (kg ha1
). The following are the soil physical and chemical properties of experimental site, Table 1.
Table 1. Soil physical and chemical properties of experimental site at depth of 0-15 cm depth
Sand (%)
Silt (%)
Clay (%)
PH (%)
E.Ce (dScm-1)
Organic matter
37.42
33.00
29.58
7.66
3.06
0.68
Statistical analysis
Data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance techniques appropriate to RCB Design upon obtaining
significant difference; least significant (LSD) test was used for comparison among the treatment means.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Weather data
Mean monthly weather data for 2009 growing season is presented in Table. 1. during season 2009. During 2009
mean minimum temperature and mean maximum temperature recorded was 16 0C and 30.1 0C. However maximum
temperature (38.8 0C) recorded in June, while minimum temperature (4 0C) recorded in the month of December.
Mean relative Humidity noted was 72% with lowest minimum humidity as 52% in May and as highest as 85.7% in
January. Total annual rainfall was 305.7mm which have minimum rainfall in January, while maximum 85.5mm
rainfall observed in March.
Months
Table 1. Mean monthly weather data for 2009 growing season of Maize (2009).
Mean Temperature
(ºC)
Rainfall (mm)
Min.
Max.
Relative Humidity (%)
Jan
2.0
4.6
19.8
85.7
Feb
28.8
6.0
20.7
78.5
Mar
85.5
11.7
25.5
78.2
Apr
49.0
15.7
29.0
72.3
May
4.6
22.6
38.0
52.0
Jun
12.8
24.2
38.8
58.9
Jul
24.4
27.5
38.1
74.0
Aug
41.4
27.6
37.6
76.8
Sep
37.6
24.0
35.9
73.2
Oct
19.6
0
15.7
8.4
31.7
25.3
74.1
73.3
0
4.0
21.0
73.1
Nov
Dec
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EJBS 6 (1) ● Jan 2013
Musharaf & al. ● Response of Maize Yield and Yield Components
Number of cobs per plant
Statistical analysis of the data revealed that hydropriming duration not significantly affected the number of cobs per
plant of land race of maize (Table. 3). The maximum (1.3) numbers of cobs per plant were observed for maize seeds
hydroprimed as control (unsoaked) in water, followed by maize seeds (1.2) hydroprimed for 8 hours (Table. 2). The
minimum (1.0) number of cobs per plant was observed in those maize seeds which were hydroprimed for 40 hours.
All other hydropriming durations have somewhat similar results.
Number of grains per plant
Hydropriming duration not significantly affected the number of grains per plant of land race of maize (Table. 3).
The maximum (102.7) number of grains per cob’s was observed in maize seeds hydroprimed for 16 hours, followed
by seeds soaked for 8 hours and unsoaked (control) seeds 95.3 & 81.1 respectively (Table. 2). The maize seeds
soaked for 24 hours & 32 hours showed similar results. Probable reasons could be that hydropriming modified
maize performance and resulted in more number of grains per cob as compared with un hydroprimed seed. Similar
results were described by Basra et al., (2003) and Khan et al., (2005) who concluded the seed priming had enhanced
grains pob-1 in mung bean varieties.
Cob’s Weight (g)
Data regarding Cob’s weight (g) were not significantly affected by hydropriming durations (Table. 2). The highest
cob’s weight (874.5 g) was measured for maize seeds hydroprimed for 16 hours, while the lowest cob’s weight
(435.2 g & 446.0 g) was measured in seeds of maize hydroprimed for 24 & 40 hours respectively. The unsoaked
seeds (control) and soaked for 8 hours showed somewhat similar results. The probable reason for heaver cob’s
weight due to hydropriming affected plant growth behavior and hence resulted in maximum uniform and full mature
grains which had ultimately resulted in higher cob’s weight. Similar results reported by khan et al (2005).
Thousand grain weight (g)
Statistical analysis of the data reveals that hydropriming duration significantly affected 1000 grains weight (g)
(Table. 3). Mean value of hydropriming durations shows that the maximum 1000 grains weight (290.8 g) of maize
was observed in seeds soaked for 8 hours, while minimum 1000 grains weight (241.2 g) was observed in maize
seeds soaked for 40 hours (Table. 2). 1000 grains weight (g) gradually decreased when soaking time increased from
8 to 40 hours. Control (unsoaked) and grains soaked for 16 hours produced similar (255.2 g & 254.9 g) thousand
grain weight (g).All other durations have somewhat similar results. The reduction in 1000 grain weight (g) in maize
seeds hydroprimed for 40 hours may be due to leaching of electrolytes from the seeds. The regression trend line
showed that higher 1000 grain weight (g) observed in seeds soaking for 8 and then decreased after soaking from 12
to 24 hours hydropriming durations, while 1000 grain weight slightly increased when maize seeds were
hydroprimed for 32 hours (Fig. 2). Similar results reported that maximum number of achenes per head, thousand
achene weight, biological and achene yield in sunflower were recorded in hydroprimed seeds. (Hussain et al., 2008).
Grain yield (kg ha-1)
Significant differences existed in grain yield due to hydropriming durations (Table. 3). The highest grain yield
(2372.2 kg ha-1) was taken by maize seeds hydroprimed for 12 hours, while the lowest grain yield (748.2 kg ha-) was
recorded for maize seeds hydroprimed for 0 hours (unsoaked) (Table. 2). The maize seeds soaked for 16 hours, 24
hours and 32 hours showed nearly same observations i.e., (1681.9, 1557.3 and 1624.0 kg ha -1) respectively. The
grain yield kg ha-1 increased when seed soaked from 8 hours to 12 hours and then decreased thereafter (Fig 2).
Increase in grain yield from hydroprimed seeds may be due to uniform and improved germination, vigorous seedling
growth, well developed root system and efficient subsequent growth which ultimately led to higher grain yield.
(Khan Nawab and Jehan Bakht., 2008).
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EJBS 6 (1) ● Jan 2013
Musharaf & al. ● Response of Maize Yield and Yield Components
Table 2. Effect of hydropriming duration on number of cobs plant -1, number of grain cob-1, cob weight (g), thousand
grain weight (g), grain yield (kg ha-1) of maize land race.
Grain yield (kg
Hydropriming
No. of grain cob-1
1000- grain
ha-1)
-1
durations
No. of cobs plant
Cob weight (g) weight (g)
1.3
81.1
773.1
255.2 b
748.2 c
0 hours (H0)
1.2
95.3
705.7
290.8 a
1782.1 ab
8 hours (H1)
1.1
53.5
511.6
285.8 a
2392.2 a
12 hours (H2)
1.3
102.7
874.5
254.9 b
1682.0 b
16 hours (H3)
1.1
71.7
435.2
264.2 ab
1557.3 b
24 hours (H4)
1.1
79.2
840.9
249.8 b
1624.1 b
32 hours (H5)
1.0
63.2
446.0
241.2 b
1133.0 bc
40 hours (H6)
29.54
691.3
LSD at 0.05
Table 3. Analysis of variance for number of cobs plant-1, cob weight (g), number of grain cob-1, thousand grain
weight (g), and grain yield (kg ha-1) as affected by hydropriming durations on maize landrace.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
S.O.V
D.F
No. of cobs plant -1
N0. of grain cob-1 Thousand grain weight
Cob weight
grain yield
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Replication
Treatments
Error
2
6
12
0.061
0.046 ns
0.039
649.945
105910.173 ns
104115.771
549.65
891.250 ns
880.714
392.951
1035.089 **
275.755
133706.130
801102.425 **
150990.363
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Total
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______________________________________________________________________________________________
300
y = 116.13+214.55x - 89.017x214.417x3 -0.8167x4
R² = 0.9042
1000-grain weight
290
1000 grain weight
280
Poly. (1000 grain weight)
270
260
250
240
0 hours
8 hours
12 hours
16 hours
24 hours
32 hours
40 hours
Hydropriming durations
Fig 1. Effect of hydropriming duration on 1000 grain weight (g) of maize landrace in Bannu
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EJBS 6 (1) ● Jan 2013
Musharaf & al. ● Response of Maize Yield and Yield Components
3000
Grain yield
2500
Grain yield (kg/ha)
Poly. (Grain yield)
2000
1500
1000
y = - 2910.6+ 5268.8x - 1929.8x2-+ 290.29x315.751x4
R² = 0.8924
500
0
0 hours
8 hours
12 hours
16 hours
24 hours
32 hours
40 hours
Hydropriming durations
Fig 2. Effect of hydropriming duration on Grain yield (kg/ha) of maize landrace in Bannu
4. CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are made:
Highest cob’s weight (874.5 g) and maximum number of grains per cob (102.7) recorded in seeds hydroprimed for
16 hours. Maximum thousand grain weight (290.8 g) was observed in seeds hydroprimed for 8 hours, while
maximum grain yield (2392.2 kg/ha) was observed in maize seed hydroprimed for 12 hours.
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
It is may be recommended that for getting higher grain yield seeds should be hydroprimed for 12 hours, while for
maximum thousand grain weight seeds should be hydroprimed for 8 hours.
6. REFERENCES
[1]. ASHRAF, M. AND M. R. FOOLAD.2005. Pre-sowing seed treatment-a Shotgun approach to improve
germination growth and crop yield under saline and none-saline conditions, Advan. Agron., 88: 223-271.
[2]. BASRA, M.A.S., E.A. EHSANULLAH, M.A. WARRAICH, AND I. AFZAL. 2003. Effect of storage on
water uptake efficiency of germinating seeds of mustard. Crucif. Newsl., 23: 35-36.
[3]. BASRA, S.M.A., EHSANULLAH, E.A. WARRAICH, M.A. CHEEMA, AND I. AFZAL. 2003. Effect of
storage on growth and yield of primed Canola seeds. Int. J. Agric.Bio., 117-120.
[4]. HUSSAIN, M., M. FAROOQ, SHAHZAD M.A. BASRA AND N. AHMAD. 2008. Influence of seed
priming techniques of the seedling establishment, yield and quality of hybred sunflower. International J. of
Agric & Bio., 1: 14-18.
[5]. KHAN, A., S.K. KHALIL, S. KHAN AND A. AFZAL. 2005. Priming affects crop stand of mungbean.
Sarhad J. Agric., 21 (4): 535-538.
[6]. NAWAB, K., AND J. BAKHT.2008. Effect of seed priming sources on wheat varieties. M.Sc thesis, NWFP
Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan.
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