The Role of Sprayer`s Characteristics and Foliar Spraying for Improving the Maize Growth and Yield

Abstract

: The field experiment was performed during the autumn growing season 2019 in Al Khyoot village of the Qurna town which is located at 75 km northern Basrah city centre. For improving the maize growth and yield, the effect of foliar spraying with iron and zinc and the most important technological characteristics of the knapsack sprayer such as nozzle types was studied. Three nozzle types were investigated as standard Flat fan nozzle, Hollow cone nozzle, and Tip nozzle (as reference nozzle in this study). Three foliar concentrations (0, Zn30 + Fe100 and Fe100+ Zn30) as well as a 16- litre capacity of the knapsack sprayer were used for fertilizer spraying experiments. All field experiments were carried out using the complete randomized block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results of the statistical analysis showed that there was a significant effect of the nozzle type and foliar spraying on the plant growth and yield characteristics as plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, number of grains, and yields (152.39 cm, 1.88 cm, 13.98, 4559 cm2, 376.51 and 5.51 Mg ha-1 respectively). Also, these characteristics showed an increase percentage as following (2.79%, 2.25%, 0.60%, 3.11%, 3.70%, and 1.73% respectively) when the hollow cone nozzle was used compared to the reference nozzle. In addition, an interaction between the studied factors also appeared a significant difference in the grain number and yield characteristics.

Spraying Technology and Foliar Application Result in a Smooth Layer of the Spray: a Literature Review

“…different layers of the plant (Alheidary et al, 2020). The outcomes also demonstrated that these characteristics were considerably impacted by the locations of WPCs on the plant.…”

“…Different studies were performed by researchers on foliar fertilization using chemical products of fertilizers (Alheidary et al, 2020;Kentelky & Szekely-Varga, 2021;Rodolfi et al, 2021).Nitrogen fertilizer, for example, is considered one of the main products that can be supplied to plants in different forms through the soil, foliage, or together (Bhattacharya, 2019). Nitrogen element is also considered one of the main food components that crops need it in most cases, especially in large amounts than other nutrients (Jain & Abrol, 2017).…”

“…When sprayed onto leaves, micronutrients have significantly impacted how much of them are absorbed. Many elements, such as the kind of nutrient, its concentration, the physicochemical properties of liquid, and the characteristics of spray droplets, are connected to the absorption of micronutrients (Alheidary et al, 2020). For instance, after foliar spraying applications, the concentrations of micronutrients for leaf growth increased by 4 to 9 mg Zn kg -1 at 5 of the 17 sites, 12 to 16 mg kg -1 Mn at 2 of the 17 sites, and an average of 8.1 mg kg -1 Fe across 10 sites with signs of Fe deficiency after the application of 123g foliar Fe ha -1 .…”

“…There are two types of fertilizers commonly used in the fields as chemical or organic types, which they applied to the soil or leaves directly using a suitable method in the application process to supply essential nutrients to the plant intended at different stages of growth. Adding these fertilizer types with practical application has a significant impact on the crop yield (Alheidary et al, 2020;Mulyati et al, 2021;Wierzbowska et al, 2022).…”