Initial Growth of corn plants subjected to different concentrations of biofertilizer and irrigated with saline water

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of irrigation with water of high and low salinity on the initial growth of corn plants grown in soil fertilized with bovine bio-fertilizer. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse of the Department of Soil Science - UFC. The seeds were planted in vessels with a 12 kg capacity, containing Alfissol as substrate and one plant per pot. The experiment followed a completely randomized design, in a 5x2 factorial scheme, with four replications, referring to five concentrations of bio-fertilizer: C1 = 50% biofertilizer + 50% water (1:1), C2 = 33.33% biofertilizer + 66.67 + water (1:2), C3 = 25% biofertilizer + 75% water (1:3), C4 = 20% biofertilizer + 80% water (1:4) and C5 = 11.12% biofertilizer + 88, 88% water (1:5) and two salinity levels of irrigation water for S1 = 0.8 dS m^-1 (low salinity) and S2 = 3.4 dS m^-1 (high salinity). We analyzed the early growth of plants as compared to the readings of electrical conductivity of water saturated soil extracts (ECse) by using the collected data on plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, shoot dry matter, root dry matter and total dry matter. Irrigation with low salinity water was found more efficient in promoting the initial growth of plants under increasing concentrations of biofertilizer, except for root dry matter. Under the same concentrations of biofertilizer, plus irrigation with saline water, soil salinity increased, but did so with less intensity in soil irrigated with low salinity water.