Research article

RESPONSE OF YIELD AND QUALITY OF THREE CULTIVARS OF MAIZE TO FOLIAR SPRAYING WITH AGRIKERTOP NUTRIENT SOLUTION

Anas I. Hasan1, Hamid A. Ajaj1, Nihad M. Abood2*, S S Shahatha2 and M O Mousa2

Online First: February 22, 2023


A field experiment was conducted during the fall season of 2019 in the College of Agriculture - University of Anbar at the Hamidiyah area / Ramadi District / Anbar Governorate, in order to study the response of growth, grain yield and its components and quality of three cultivars of maize (Fajir 1, Baghdad 3 and Sarah) to foliar spraying at four concentrations of AGRIKERTOP nutrient solution (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg L-1). A randomized complete block design (R.C.B.D) according to split-plots arranging was used at three replicates. The nutrient solution concentrations occupied the main plots and the cultivars occupied the sub-plots. The results of the statistical analysis showed that the Sarah cultivar was superiority in the leaf area, grains number per ear, grains weight per ear, grain yield (7.45 ton ha-1) and percentage of oil in the grains (4.63%). The higher concentration of the nutrient solution (150 mg L-1) was also superiority in the traits under study. The interaction between studied factors also had a significant effect on most studied traits, as the Sarah cultivar x 150 mg L-1 recorded the highest values for the most traits, outperforming all other combinations except for the plant height trait in which the combination (Baghdad 3 x 150 mg L-1) outperformed.

Keywords

Foliar nutrition, Maize, grain yield, Oil percentage.