Response of maize grain yield and components to foliar iron nanoparticle application

Abstract

During the spring season of 2021, a field experiment was conducted at the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences - University of Baghdad (Abi Ghraib location). To investigate the impact of nano iron concentrations and their application dates on the yield and its components of maize. A factorial experiment was carried out in a split-plot arrangement. The main plots occupied the spraying dates (beginning of the male flowering stage, 50% female flowering and completion of female flowering) and symbolized in sequence. At the same time, the iron concentrations (0, 100, 200 and 300 mg. L-1) occupied sub-plots according to RCBD with three replicates. The results revealed that the dates of spraying nano iron substantially influenced most of the features tested. The early date (beginning of the male flowering stage) gave the highest average length of the ear (16.374 cm), the number of rows per ear (16.3 row ear-1), and the number of grains per ear (563.4 grain ear-1) and the total grain yield of 6.096 tons ha.-1. The results also showed that the concentrations of nano iron 300 mg L-1were superior in all the characteristics of the yield components and the grain yield, as it produced the most significant average for ear length, number of rows, number of grains per row, number of grains in the ear, weight of 500 grains, and total grain yield. It is concluded from this study that spraying at the beginning of the flowering stage is the most responsive to spraying the nano iron element, especially at the concentration of 300 mg L-1. Keywords: Nano iron; flowering stage; ear length; grain yield