Table 2.
Effect of Azospirillum brasilense strains CNPSo 2083 and CNPSo 2084 and of enriched metabolites of R. tropici strain CIAT 899 applied to the seeds at sowing or by leaf spray at the V3 stage on plant growth (shoot dry weight, SDW; plant height, PH), shoot N (content [NS] and total N accumulated in shoots [TNS]) at 57 and 51 days after sowing (DAS), and grain (yield) at the physiological maturity of maize hybrid DOW 2B 707 HX
| Treatment | Ponta Grossa | Cachoeira Dourada | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 DAS | Maturity | 51 DAS | Maturity | |||||||
| SDW (g pl−1) | PH (cm) | NS (g kg−1) | TNS (mgN pl−1) | Yield (kg ha−1) | SDW (g pl−1) | PH (cm) | N (g kg−1) | TNS (mgN pl−1) | Yield (kg ha−1) | |
| Non-inoculated control | 56.1ns | 252ns | 23.04ns | 1292ns | 8406 b | 33.1 c | 234ns | 21.16ns | 700 b | 6310 b |
| Seed inoculated (Azospirillum) | 58.3 | 260 | 23.86 | 1391 | 8850 b | 44.1 a | 242 | 21.00 | 926 a | 6567 b |
| Seed inoculated (Azospirillum + enriched metabolites) | 52.7 | 253 | 22.64 | 1193 | 9225 a | 40.8 ab | 243 | 21.94 | 895 a | 7373 a |
| Leaf spray inoculation (Azospirillum) | 55.0 | 258 | 22.45 | 1235 | 8567 b | 36.9 bc | 241 | 21.10 | 779 b | 6543 b |
| Leaf spray inoculation (Azospirillum + enriched metabolites) | 55.2 | 256 | 22.71 | 1254 | 9256 a | 36.4 bc | 238 | 21.06 | 766 b | 7286 a |
Field experiments performed in Ponta Grossa and Cachoeira Dourada, Brazil, in the summer crop season of 2012/2013. Means (n = 6) on the same column which are followed by different letters are significantly different (p ≤ 0.10, Duncan test)
n.s. statistically non-significant