Saline Water and Nitrogen Fertilization on Leaf Composition and Yield of Corn

Abstract

Absence of drainage associated with high evapotranspiration and irregular precipitations contributes to the accumulation of salts in the soil, reducing nutrient absorption and yield. Nutritional management is important for the crop to express its maximum production potential, and nitrogen is the macronutrient most required by the corn crop. The objective of this study was to evaluate yield and leaf contents in corn under different nitrogen fertilization recommendations and salt stress. The experiment was conducted from June to September 2019, at the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony in Redenção-CE, Brazil. The experimental design used was completely randomized, in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement, with 6 replicates, with two levels of electrical conductivity (0.3 dS m-1 and 3.0 dS m-1) and three nitrogen fertilization recommendations (0, 50 and 100% of the recommendation). The variables analyzed were unhusked ear weight, husked ear weight, yield and leaf contents of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Na. Irrigation with saline water (3.0 dS m-1) reduces the unhusked ear weight, husked ear weight and yield. Nitrogen fertilization recommendations of 50% and 100% promoted higher values of unhusked ear weight, husked ear weight and leaf N contents, but reduced leaf P contents. The 50% and 100% recommendations promote higher yield values for the two levels of electrical conductivity studied (0.3 and 3.0 dS m-1). The 50% and 100% recommendations associated with saline water irrigation increased the leaf contents of K, Na, Mg and Ca.

Efficiency of Nitrogen Fertilization in Millet Irrigated with Brackish Water

“…With regard to the leaf Mg content in the millet crop (Figure 5D), it was found that the accumulation of Mg showed an approximate response range, regardless of the ECw and doses of N in the substrate, but with the control being superior close to the recommended dose. A similar trend was observed by Sousa et al (2022), who recorded an increase in leaf Mg content in maize leaves irrigated with brackish water and fertilized with 50% of the N recommendation. One of the main side effects of salinity is to cause nutritional deficiency, but balancing the nutritional status (N, P, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+) and this adverse effect can be partially corrected through fertilizer management [51].…”

“…[48] describe that plants adapt to nutrient levels by altering their gene expression profile, i.e., they modulate nutrient absorption and metabolism in order to process and adapt to environmental conditions. [47] found an isolated effect for ECw levels and N doses on leaf P content in maize, where they found a reduction with increasing ECw and a higher concentration in plants that did not receive fertilization.…”

“…The increase in N doses increased the Ca content in millet leaves in a saline environment, being slightly higher than the control treatment at doses close to 100% of the recommended dose. The millet plants may have developed an antioxidant mechanism driven by the increase in N to tolerate toxic ions such as Na + [47,49], or even increased the exchange capacity of the roots in saline environments and favored greater absorption of bivalent ions such as Ca + and Mg + [50]. [40] studied the interactive effects of salinity and forms of nitrogen on plant growth, photosynthesis and osmotic adjustment in maize and found that there was an increase in the concentration of Ca 2+ in the presence of NaCl in the nutrient solution regardless of the N source.…”

Growth and nutrition of peanut crop subjected to saline stress and organomineral fertilization

“…Practices to mitigate excess salts in irrigation water have been applied in various cropping systems, including mineral fertilization, which aims to nourish agricultural crops and maximize their cultivation (Sousa et al, 2022). The resources used to mitigate salt stress are biofertilizers, as organic sources; nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), as mineral sources; or a combination of both, which form organomineral fertilizers (Souza et al, 2018;Souza et al, 2019a).…”

Organic fertilization and salt stress on the agronomic performance of maize crop

“…However, irrigation of maize with saline water promotes stress as it decreases the osmotic potential of the soil solution, reducing the availability of water and thus causing water stress and leading to plant metabolic injuries in the photosynthetic apparatus (Lima et al, 2019). Saline irrigation water has also been shown to lead to the accumulation of dry matter and reduction in the productive yield of maize cultivated in pots and fields (Sousa et al, 2016;Costa et al, 2021;Goes et al, 2021;Sousa et al, 2022).…”