387 Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 12 (2006), 387-392 National Centre for Agrarian Sciences The Effect of Boron (B) Application on the Growth and Nutrient Contents of Maize in Zinc (Zn) Deficient Soil Aydun ADILOGLU* and Sevinc ADILOGLU Trakya University Tekirdag Agricultural Faculty, Soil Science Department 59030-Tekirdag, Turkey Abstract ADILOGLU, Aydin and Sevinç ADILOGLU, 2006. The effect of boron (B) application on the growth and nutrient contents of maize in zinc (Zn) deficient soil. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 12: 387-392 A pot experiment with maize plant grown on zinc (Zn) deficient soil was conducted to study the effect of increasing boron (B) and zinc (Zn) application nutritional status and shoot growth under greenhouse conditions. Three levels B (0, 10 and 20 mgkg -1 ) and two levels Zn (0 and 10 mgkg -1 ) applied to maize plant. At the end of experiment, shoot dry matter yield of maize plant decreased with B application, while increased with Zn application. Nitrogen, P and K concentrations of plant increased with B and Zn applications. Same way, Cu, Zn and Mn concentrations of maize also increased same treatments, but Fe concentration of maize was adverse affected with Zn application while positive affect B application. Key words: Zn deficient, boron, maize, nutrient element Introduction Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a very important nutrient problem especially in calcereous soils. Total Zn concentration is in sufficient level in many agricultural areas, but available Zn concentration is in deficient level because of different soil and climatic conditions. Soil ph, lime content, organic matter amount, clay type and amount and the amount of applied phosphorus fertilizer affect the available Zn concentration in soil. Zinc deficiency rate was determined as a 30 % in the world (Sillanpaa, 1982), while this rate was 50 % in Turkey's soils (Eyupoglu et al., 1998). In same cases, some nutrients elements accumulate are seen in agricultural areas, while the others are deficiency. For example, Zn deficiency and B toxicity are shown, frequently in soils. The interaction among nutrient elements is very important for plant nutrition. Boron x Zn interaction among these interactions has been curicial in the Zn deficient soils, in recent years (Alkan et al., 1998). Plant root cell membrane permeability * a_adiloglu@ hotmail.com
388 increases in Zn deficient soils (Cakmak and Marschner, 1998), which may lead to accumulate B and other nutrient elements in plant roots (Singh et al. 1990). Therefore, excess B uptakes by plants may cause B toxicity for the plants in this soil conditions. Gunes et al. (2000) applied increasing rates of B and Zn to tomato plant. Boron concentration of plant increased under no Zn applied conditions. According to researchers, B toxicity may prevent by Zn application to plants. Increasing rates of B and Zn were applied to maize plant in calcareous soil under greenhouse conditions, Egypt. Boron concentration of plant increased with increasing B application. On the other hand, Zn concentration of plant decreased with this application. Zinc concentration of maize increased with Zn application (Shaaban et al., 2004). Aktas et al. (2004) carried out grown wheat in pots under greenhouse conditions. They applied 0; 2.3; 4.6 and 9.2 mg kg -1 B to plants. Shoot dry matter yield and root yield decreased with increasing B applications. Also, Chlorophyll amount of leaf samples decreased with B application. In this research, the effect of increasing boron (B) and zinc (Zn) applications on some nutrient elements (N, P, K, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn) concentration of maize plant in zinc (Zn) deficient soil under greenhouse conditions was aimed to determination. Materials and Methods Maize was grown in pots under greenhouse conditions with three replications. Air-dried 2 kg soil was filled into plastic pots. This soil had a clay texture, 5.40 % CaCO 3, ph of 7.10, 1.18 % organic matter, 195.7 kgha -1 exchangeable potassium (K), 71.8 kgha -1 available phosphorus (P 2 O 5 ) as measured by the standard methods given in Jackson (1958). DTPA extractable (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978) Zn concentration was 0.18 mgkg -1 and Mannitol- CaCl 2 extractable (Kacar, 1995) B concentration was 0.80 mgkg -1. Three different doses of B (B 0 : 0, B 1 : 10 and B 2 : 20 mgkg -1 in the from H 3 BO 3 ) and two different doses of Zn (Zn0: 0 and Zn 1 : 10 mgkg -1 in the from ZnSO 4 7H 2 O) were applied to the pots. 200 mgkg -1 N (in NH 4 NO 3 from), 100 mgkg -1 P 2 O 5 (in KH 2 PO 4 from) were applied to each pot. Two plants were left on each pot after germination. Plants were harvested after 45 days and dried at 70 o C and ground for analysis. Total N concentration of plants were determined by Kjeldahl method, total P concentration were determined by vanadomolibdo phosphoric acid yellow color method, total K concentration were determined by flame photometer and Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn concentrations were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) (Kacar, 1972). The results of experiment were evaluated statistically (Soysal, 2000). Results and Discussion A. Adiloglu and S. Adiloglu The Effect of Boron (B) and Zinc (Zn) Applications on Dry Matter Yield of Maize Plant Dry matter yield of maize plant was significantly affected with the application of increasing rates of Zn and B in the soils. Dry matter yield decreased with B application while with Zn application increased (Table 1). This is because B uptake of plants are more and more in Zn deficient soils, therefore B toxicity is exposed and the plant growth is adversely affected by
The Effect Of Boron (B) Application On The Growth... 389 Table 1 The effect of B and Zn applications on dry matter yield of maize, g pot -1 0 3.27 b 3.83 a 3.55 Zn** 10 2.98 c 3.28 b 3.13 B x Zn** 20 2.67 c 3.12 b 2.89 2.97 3.41 *: Significant differences between treatments at P< 1 % level indicated by different letters Table 2 The effect of B and Zn applications on N, P, K concentrations of maize N, % 0 3.52 3.6 3.56 c B* 10 3.64 3.72 3.68 b Zn* 20 3.8 3.83 3.81 a B x Zn 3.65 bc 3.71 b P, % 0 0.45 0.54 0.49 c B* 10 0.53 0.6 0.56 b Zn* 20 0.62 0.7 0.66 a B x Zn 0.53 b 0.61 a K, % 0 2.6 2.72 2.66 bc B* 10 2.7 2.76 2.73 b Zn* 20 2.81 2.84 2.82 a B x Zn 2.70 b 2.77 a *: Significant differences between treatments at P< 1 % level indicated by different letters
390 A. Adiloglu and S. Adiloglu Table 3 The effect of B and Zn applications on Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn concentrations of maize Fe, mgkg -1 0 80.2 76.4 78.3 b B** 10 92.6 88.2 90.4 a Zn* 20 98.4 90.3 94.3 a B x Zn 90.4 a 84.9 b Cu, mgkg -1 0 18.4 20.4 19.4 b B** 10 22.1 26.8 24.4 a Zn** 20 25.3 28.7 27.0 a B x Zn 21.9 b 25.3 a Zn mgkg -1 0 40.2 c 62.4 b 51.3 B** 10 54.2 c 78.1 a 66.1 Zn** 20 68.6 b 84.3 a 76.4 B x Zn** 54.3 74.9 Mn mgkg -1 0 62.1 c 80.4 71.2 c B* 10 76.3 94.2 85.2 b Zn** 20 90.6 110.1 100.3 a B x Zn 76.3 c 94.9 a *: Significant differences between treatments at P< 1 % level indicated by different letters
The Effect Of Boron (B) Application On The Growth... 391 this situation (Graham et al., 1987; Shaaban et al., 2004; Eraslan et al., 2004). The Effect of Boron (B) and Zinc (Zn) Applications on N, P and K Concentrations of Maize Plant Nitrogen (N), P and K concentrations of plants increased with increasing rates of B and Zn application (Table 2). But these increases were not found significant statistically. Boron toxicity can be decreased with P x B interaction as stated by Gunes and Alpaslan (2000). Researchers determined that B concentration of maize plant decreased with the increasing P application. Also, B toxicity decreased with the high level N applications (Aplaslan et al., 1996). Potassium concentrations of tomato and cucumber plants did not change with increasing B applications (Alpaslan and Gunes, 2001). The Effect of Boron (B) and Zinc (Zn) Applications on Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn Concentrations of Maize Plant Iron (Fe) concentration of maize plant increased with B application while decreased with Zn application. But these increases and decreases were not found statistically significant (Table 3). Copper (Cu) concentration of plant was also affected by B and Zn applications, increased with increasing B and Zn applications (Table 3). Zinc (Zn) concentration of maize increased statistically significantly with B and Zn fertilization (Table 3). Also, Mn concentration of maize was positively effected by B and Zn fertilizations. Manganese concentration of plants increased with B and Zn applications (Table 3). Our results are consistent with the earlier observations for different plants under different soil conditions (Alkan et al., 1998; Gunes et al., 2000; Quaggio et al., 2003; Shaaban et al., 2004; Eraslan et al., 2004; Puzina, 2004). Conclusion According to the results of this research, dry matter yield of maize plant decreased with B application in Zn deficient soil. Boron and Zn applications affected N, P, K, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn concentrations of plant. Boron accumulation and toxicity in plant roots were detected especially in Zn deficient soils. As a result, B application affected adversely the dry matter yield of maize plant in this study. Boron toxicity should carefully be dealt with under Zn deficient soil conditions. Because nutrient balance in plants is hindered with the excess accumulation of some nutrient elements in plant roots under these soil conditions. This is curicial for maize plant because maize is very sensitive to Zn deficiency. In conclusion, much care should be taken for B toxicity in Zn deficient soils for maize grown, especially. References Aktash, L. Y., M. Gemici, B. Turky?lmaz and A. Guven, 2004. The effects of high boron concentration on growing and protein metabolism in wheat. Journal of Anatoila Eagean Agricultural Research Institute, 14 (1): 88-99 (Tr). Alkan, A., B. Torun, A. Ozdemir, G. Bozbay and I. Chakmak, 1998. Effect of zinc on boron toxicity different wheat and barley cultivars. I. National Zinc Congress, 12-16 May, Eskisehir, Turkey, pp. 779-782 (Tr). Alpaslan, M., S. Taban, A. Inal, C. Kutuk and I. Erdal, 1996. Boron- nitrogen relationships in wheat which grown nutrient solu-
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