International Journal of Life Sciences 9 (5) : 2015; 117 - 121
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International Journal of
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Copyright © International Journal of Life Sciences
ResearchArticle
Effect of Nitrogen Biofertilizers on Yield and Yield Components
of Different Maize (Zea mays L.) Cultivars
1
Amin Farnia *, Vahid Kazemi Ashjardi
2
1
Assistant Professor of Department of Agriculture, Boroujerd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd, Iran
M.Sc. Student of Department of Agriculture, Boroujerd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd, Iran
2
Article Information
ABSTRACT
Keywords:
Bio-fertilizer;
biomassyield;
maizecultivars
Inordertoevaluatetheeffectofnitrogenbio-fertilizersonyieldandyieldandyieldcomponentsof
differentmaize(zeamaysL.)cultivarsafieldexperimentwasconductedinIslamicAzadUniversityof
Boroujerd,Iran(atIsfahanregion),duringthegrowingseasons2013-2014.Theexperimentwaslaid
outinasplit-plotdesignbasedonrandomizedblockdesignwiththreereplications.Treatmentswere
differentcultivars(Siloking,NS4015,MaximaandSC704)inmainplotsandnitrogenbio-fertilizers
(Azotobacter,NitroxinandSupernitroplus)withcontrolinsubplots.Theresultsreviledthattheeffect
ofcultivartreatmentonalltraitswassignificant.EffectofNbio-fertilizertreatmentwassignificanton
stemweight,leafweight,earweightandbiomassyieldonly.Interactioneffectofthemwassignificant
onalltraitsexceptingnumberofleafperplantandearweight.Applicationofnitrogenbiofertilizers
increased yield components of different cultivars of maize specially, for Siloking cultivar and
Supernitroplusbio-fertilizer.SilokingcultivarwithapplicationofSupernitroplusbiofertilizerhadthe
highestplantheightandleafweightandMaximacultivarwithapplicationofNitroxinbiofertilizerhad
thelowestplantheightandleafweight.However,NS4015cultivarswithnon-applicationofanyofN
biofertilizerhadthehigheststemweight.Silokingcultivarhadthehighestnumberofleafperplantand
NS4015cultivarhadthelowestnumberofleafperplant.Silokingcultivarhadthehighestallofthe
traits excepting stem weight. So, this cultivar was more useful than other cultivars for achieve to
maximum production of foliage in Isfahan province. However Siloking cultivar with application of
Supernitroplusnitrogenbiofertilizertreatmenthadthehighestbiomassyieldasfoliageyieldandwe
proposethistreatmentformaximumproductionofmaizeinIsfahanenvironmentalcondition.
INTRODUCTION
Corn or maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the three most
importantcerealcropsintheworld.Itisaversatilecrop
and ranks third following wheat and rice in world
productionasreported(FAO,2002).Cornisoneofthe
major cereal crops and is a very versatile grain that
benefitsmankindinmanyways.Itisaversatilecropand
ranksthirdfollowingwheatandriceinworldproduction
asreportedbyFoodandAgricultureOrganization(FAO,
2002).
In the present century positive safe effect of biofertializers on growth, yield and yield component of
many crops was reviled. Bio-fertilizers are microorganisms that help plants to grow by increasing the
quantityofnutrients.Sincethesefertilizerscontainliving
microorganisms,itincreasesorpromotesthesupplyof
importantnutrientscrucialfortheoverallproductivityof
the soil(Karthick et al, 2014).Symbiotic life formsare
culturedensuringweedandpestcontrolandoptimum
soil biological activity, which maintain fertility
(Muhammadetal,2006).Conventionalfarmingmethods
succeed in today's world is not acceptable to use the
resourcemanagementandrelyingtoomuchonsynthetic
inputs such as fertilizers and chemical pesticides can
cause auxiliary power injector and the ecosystem of
unstable farming (Malakouti et al, 2005 and Roberts,
2008). The synthetic fertilizers are harmful for soil,
because the inorganic fertilizers mainly contain major
nutrientsNPKinlargequantitiesandareneglectingthe
useoforganicmanuresandhencehavepavedthewayfor
deterioration of soil health (Choudhry, 2005).
*Corresponding author Email address: [email protected]
Copyright reserved © International Journal of Life Sciences
DOI:dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v9i5.12711
International Journal of Life Sciences 9 (5) : 2015; 117 - 121
Application of nitrogen and phosphate biofertilizers
increased yield and yield components of barley under
Boroujerdenvironmentalcondition(Azimietal,2013b).
They suggested that grain yield and biomass yield
increasingwasreportedwiththebiofertilizerapplication
whichaccountimportantbenefit,causingdecreasingin
theinputsofproductionbecauseofeconomizingmuch
moneytochemicalfertilizersandincreasinginyieldand
biological yield. Application of Supernitroplass
biofertilizerwithPhosphatebarvar2treatmenthasthe
highest seed yield (7.6 ton/ha) and non-application of
biofertilizerstreatmenthasthePishtazcultivarhasthe
lowestseedyield(6.3ton/ha)(Azimietal,2013a).They
toldthatforgavethehighestseedyieldweshouldapply
both nitrogen and phosphate biofertilizers. In maize
application nitrogen and phosphate biofertilizers
increased yield and yield components of maize under
Boroujerd environmental condition (Beyranvand e al,
2013). They suggested that effect of nitrogen and
phosphatebiofertilizerswereevaluatedpositively,there
wereanincreaseinplantheight,earweight,numberof
grainpercob,grainyieldandbiomassyield.
Treatments were different cultivars (Siloking, NS4015,
Maxima and SC704) in main plots and nitrogen biofertilizers (Azotobacter, Nitroxin and Supernitroplus)
withcontrolinsubplots.
Inthisfieldexperimenttherewere5rowsineachplot
androwswere6mlongwith0.7mrowspacingandplant
toplantspacingwas20cmtoo.Atmaturity,twoouter
rowsforeachplot,50cmfromeachendoftheplots,were
left as borders and the middle 3m2 of the four central
rows were harvested. Then biomass yield and yield
componentswerecalculatedasstandardmethodswith
using10plants.Yieldwasdefinedintermsofgramsper
squaremeterandquintalsperhectare.
Thestatisticalanalysestodeterminetheindividualand
interactive effects of treatments were conducted using
JMP 5.0.1.2 (SAS Institute Inc., 1997). Statistical
significance was declared at P≤0.05 and P≤0.01.
Treatment effects from the two runs of experiments
followedasimilartrend,andthusthedatafromthetwo
independentrunswerecombinedintheanalysis.
Therefore this study was planned to examine effect of
nitrogenbio-fertilizersonyieldandyieldcomponentsof
maize.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thisstudywascarriedoutinordertoevaluatetheeffect
of nitrogen bio-fertilizers on yield and yield and yield
componentsofdifferentmaize(zeamaysL.)cultivars a
field experiment was conducted in Islamic Azad
UniversityofBoroujerd,Iran(atIsfahanregion),during
the growing seasons 2013- 2014. The experiment was
laidoutinasplit-plotdesignbasedonrandomizedblock
design with three replications. Soil property of
experimentalfieldshowedintable1.
Plantheight:Theanalysisofvarianceshowedthat,the
effectofcultivarandinteractionbetweencultivarandN
biofertilizeronplantheightwassignificantonly(table2).
Thecomparisonofthemeanvaluesoftheplantheight
showed that Siloking and SC704 cultivars with
application of Supernitroplus and Azot barvar1 biofertilizers had the highest (242cm) plant height and
NS4015 cultivar with application of Supernitroplus
biofertilizerhadthelowest(172cm)plantheight(figure
1).
Numberofleafperplant:Theeffectofcultivaronnumber
of leaf per plant was significant only (table 2). The
Table1.Soilpropertyofexperimentsite
Table2.Analysisofvariance(meansquares)foryield,yieldcomponentsofmaizecultivars
underapplicationofdifferentnitrogenbio-fertilizers
ns:Non-significant,*and**: Significantat5%and1%probabilitylevels,respectively
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International Journal of Life Sciences 9 (5) : 2015; 117 - 121
comparisonofthemeanvaluesofthenumberofleafper
plantforcultivartreatmentshowedthatSilokingcultivar
had the highest number of leaf per plant and NS4015
cultivarhadthelowestnumberofleafperplant(figure2).
thatSilokingcultivarwithapplicationofSupernitroplus
biofertilizer had the highest (1500g) leaf weight and
MaximacultivarwithapplicationofNitroxinbiofertilizer
hadthelowest(795g)leafweight(figure4).
Stemweight:Theanalysisofvarianceshowedthat,the
effect of biofertilizer and interaction between cultivar
andNbiofertilizeronstemweightwassignificantonly
(table2).Thecomparisonofthemeanvaluesofthestem
weight showed that NS4015 cultivars with nonapplication of any of N biofertilizer had the highest
(5700g) stem weight and Maxima cultivar with
applicationofSupernitroplusbiofertilizerhadthelowest
(2800g)stemweight(figure3).
Ear weight: The analysis of variance showed that, the
effect of cultivar, biofertilizer and interaction between
them on ear weight with hulk was significant and the
effectofcultivarandbiofertilizeronearweightwithout
hulkwassignificanttoo(table2).Thecomparisonofthe
mean values for ear weight with hulk showed that
Siloking cultivar with application of Nitroxin
biofertilizerhadthehighest(3700g)earweightwithhulk
and Maxima cultivar with application of Nitroxin
biofertilizerhadthelowest(1750g)earweightwithhulk
(figure 5). The results for ear weight without hulk
showedthatSilokingcultivarhadthehighest(2700g)ear
weightwithouthulkandMaximacultivarhadthelowest
(1700g)earweightwithouthulk(figure6).Howeverin
Leafweight:Theanalysisofvarianceshowedthat,the
effect of cultivar, biofertilizer and interaction between
them on leaf weight was significant (table 2). The
comparisonofthemeanvaluesoftheleafweightshowed
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International Journal of Life Sciences 9 (5) : 2015; 117 - 121
biofertilizers treatments Azot Barvar2 had the highest
(2350g)earweightwithouthulkandNitroxintreatment
hadthelowest(1850g)earweightwithouthulk(figure
7).
Biomassyield:Theanalysisofvarianceshowedthat,the
effect of cultivar, biofertilizer and interaction between
them on biomass yield was significant (table 2). The
comparisonofthemeanvaluesforbiomassyieldshowed
thatSilokingcultivarwithapplicationofSupernitroplus
-2
biofertilizerhadthehighest(10000g.m )biomassyield
and Maxima cultivar with application of Nitroxin
biofertilizer had the lowest (5900 g.m-2) biomass yield
(figure8).
Thepresentstudyreviledthattheeffectofbiofertilizers
andcultivarsonalltraitsofmaizeweresignificantbutthe
interactioneffectofthemonnumberofleafperplantand
earweightwithouthulkwerenotsignificantonly(table
2).Applicationofnitrogenbiofertilizersincreasedyield
componentsofdifferentcultivarsofmaize.Specially,for
Siloking cultivar and Supernitroplus biofertilizer this
increasingofbiomassyieldwasmorethanothercultivars
and biofertilizers respectively. Yield and yield
componentsofmanycropssuchasmaizeincreasedwith
application of biofertilizers (Azimi et al, 2013a,b;
Beyranvand et al, 2013). This may resulted from its
ability to increase the availability of phosphorus and
other nutrients especially under the specialty of the
calcareousnatureofthesoilwhichcausedecreasingon
the nutrients availability. In the present study Siloking
cultivarwithapplicationofSupernitroplusbiofertilizer
hadthehighestplantheightandleafweightandMaxima
cultivarwithapplicationofNitroxinbiofertilizerhadthe
lowestplantheightandleafweight(figure1and4).The
increasedofplantheightandleafweightinapplicationof
Supernitroplus treatment, where bio fertilizers were
applied may be attributed due to better plant
development through efficient utilization of soil
resourcesbytheplant,whereprimarygrowthelements
were available. However, NS4015 cultivars with nonapplicationofanyofNbiofertilizerhadthehigheststem
weight(figure3).Thecomparisonofthemeanvaluesof
the number of leaf per plant for cultivar treatment
showedthatSilokingcultivarhadthehighestnumberof
leafperplantandNS4015cultivarhadthelowestnumber
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International Journal of Life Sciences 9 (5) : 2015; 117 - 121
ofleafperplant.WhileRosasetal.(2002)reportedthat
combinedinoculationofsoybeanbysymbioticbacteria
ofsoybeanandphosphatesolubilizingbacteriaimproved
leaf area and dry weight of soybean. Application of
Nitroxin and Supernitroplusincreasedear weight with
andwithouthulk(figure5and6).Thedecreaseingrain
weightmaybeattributedduetodeficiencyofessential
nutrientsatthetimeoffloweringandseedsettingstage
ofplant,becauseatthisstagephosphorousisrequiredby
theplanttocompletesuchimportantgrowthstageslike
thatoffloweringandseedsettingoptimally,whileKis
required by the plant to improve seeds quality
(Muhammadetal,2006).Kazemietal.(2005)reported
that soybean seed inoculation with rhizobial bacteria
significantlyincreasedseedthousandweight.Nabilaet
al. (2007) observed that application of Azospirillum as
singleonwheathadsignificanteffectonnumberofgrain
per spikelet. Quah and Jafar (1994) found that the
increaseinseedweightofmungbeanbytheapplication
-1
of50kgNha .AsadiRahmanietal.(2000)reportedthat
during seed filling stage of soybean in treatments
inoculated by B. japonicum bacteria, more photoassimilate transport to grain due to higher photosynthesislevelandthisfactorcanincreasetheseedsize
andseedweight.
Biomass yield of maize was influenced significantly by
application of bio-fertilizers. Application of any biofertilizerssignificantlyincreasedbiomassandovernon
applicationofbio-fertilizersconditionandapplicationof
Nitroxin bio-fertilizer. The Siloking cultivar with
application of Supernitroplus biofertilizer had the
highest biomass yield and Maxima cultivar with
application of Nitroxin biofertilizer had the lowest
biomassyield(figure8).Thismightbetheresultofthe
microorganismscanenhanceplantgrowthbyincreasing
the efficiency of biological fixation, enhancing the
availability of trace elements and by the production of
plantgrowthpromotingsubstances(Gyanershwaretal,
1998). Reductioninbiomassyieldincontroltreatment
may be due to nutritional imbalance and deficiency of
certain important plant growth nutrients at various
important growth stages like that of flowering, seed
formationandseedmaturity.
InthepresentstudySilokingcultivarhadthehighestallof
the traits excepting stem weight. So, this cultivar was
moreusefulthanothercultivarsforachievetomaximum
production of foliage in Isfahan province. However
Siloking cultivar with application of Supernitroplus
nitrogenbiofertilizertreatmenthadthehighestbiomass
yieldasfoliageyieldandweproposethistreatmentfor
maximumproductionofmaize.
CONCLUSION
Thepresentstudyconcludedthatmaximumproduction
ofmaize(grainyield,yieldcomponentsandgrainyield)
was recorded for application of different biofertilizers.
Supernitroplus biofertilizer and Siloking cultivar was
most effective rather than other biofertiliers and
cultivars for maize production. Like that of flowering,
seed formation and seed maturity. However, Siloking
cultivarhadthehighestallofthetraitsexceptingstem
weight. So, this cultivar was more useful than other
cultivarsforachievetomaximumproductionoffoliagein
Isfahan province. This cultivar with application of
Supernitroplusnitrogenbiofertilizertreatmenthadthe
highestbiomassyieldasfoliageyieldandweproposethis
treatmentformaximumproductionofmaizeinIsfahan
environmentalcondition.
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