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Author
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Mawire, Martin M
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Title
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Evaluating the Influence of Silicon on the Growth and Yield of Maize (Zea Mays L) Under Limited Water Condition
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Abstract
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Abiotic stressors reduce crop yields by around 70% each year worldwide, and severe drought affects about 30% of farmed land. An open-field experiment on effects of Si was conducted at Braford Farming to evaluate the influence of silicon under limited water conditions on the growth and yield of maize using the randomised complete block design arranged in a factorial manner replicated three times. The treatments were randomly assigned to the experimental units using the hat system and the variation in slope was the blocking factor. The experiments consisted of five SiO2 treatments which included a control named M1 with SiO2 0 Lt/ha and four treatments named M2, M3, M4, and M5 with SiO2 5 L/ha, 7 L/ha, 9 L/ha, and 10 L/ha, respectively. All silicon, phosphate, and potassium fertilizers were applied as basal applications. All treatments where exposed to limited water supply of 40 % moisture content. The parameter used to monitor the growth and yield of maize under Si treated treatments were plant height, stem diameter, LAI, number of leaves, cob length and cob weight. The results showed that there was a significant difference in plant height, LAI, stem diameter, number of leaves, cob length and cob weight and treatment 10L/Ha recorded the highest in all parameters with means 195.1, 70.83, 5.94, 17.67, 23.50 and 700.3 respectively, biggest cob and LAI whilst treatment 0L/Ha had the lowest of all these parameters. In conclusion 10L/Ha showed the highest growth rate and highest yield whilst 0L/Ha showed the lowest growth and yield.
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Date
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2023
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Publisher
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BUSE
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Keywords
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Silicon
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Growth and Yield
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Supervisor
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Mawire, Martin M
