Boron seed coating combined with seed inoculation with boron tolerant bacteria (Bacillus sp. MN-54) and maize stalk biochar improved growth and productivity of maize (Zea mays L.) on saline soil

Hafiz Saqib Hayat; Atique-Ur Rehman; Shahid Farooq; Muhammad Naveed; Hayssam M Ali; Mubshar Hussain

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22075

Boron seed coating combined with seed inoculation with boron tolerant bacteria (Bacillus sp. MN-54) and maize stalk biochar improved growth and productivity of maize (Zea mays L.) on saline soil

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 4;9(11):e22075. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22075. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Hafiz Saqib Hayat¹, Atique-Ur Rehman¹, Shahid Farooq², Muhammad Naveed³, Hayssam M Ali⁴, Mubshar Hussain^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan.
² Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Harran University, Sanlıurfa, 63050, Turkey.
³ Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 37000, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

Abstract

Salinity exerts significant negative impacts on growth and productivity of crop plants and numerous management practices are used to improve crop performance under saline environments. Micronutrients, plant growth promoting bacteria and biochar are known to improve crop productivity under stressful environments. Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal crop and its productivity is adversely impacted by salinity. Although boron (B) application, seed inoculation with boron-tolerant bacteria (BTB) and biochar are known to improve maize growth under stressful environments, there is less information on their combined impact in enhancing maize productivity on saline soils. This study investigated the impact of B seed coating combined with seed inoculation with BTB + biochar on maize productivity under saline soil. Four B seed coating levels [0.0 (no seed coating), 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 g B kg^-1 seed], and individual or combined application of 5 % (w/w) maize stalk biochar, and seed inoculation with Bacillus sp. MN-54 BTB were included in the study. Different growth and yield attributes and grain quality were significantly improved by seed coating with 1.5 B kg^-1 seed coupled with biochar + BTB. Seed coating with 1.5 B kg^-1 seed combined with biochar + BTB improved stomatal conductance by 32 %, photosynthetic rate by 15 %, and transpiration ratio by 52 % compared to seed coating (0 B kg^-1 seed) combined with biochar only. Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob^-1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant^-1), biological yield (95.5 g plant^-1), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg^-1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation. The same treatment resulted in the highest grain protein and B contents. It is concluded that B seed coating at 1.5 g B kg^-1 seed combined with biochar + BTB inoculation could significantly improve yield and quality of maize crop on saline soils. However, further field experiments investigating the underlying mechanisms are needed to reach concrete conclusions and large-scale recommendations.

Keywords: Grain protein content; Photosynthesis; Plant growth promoting bacteria; Saline environments; Stomatal conductance.