Investigation of biochar and mycorrhizal symbiosis in reduction water stress in corn (Zea mays L.)

Introduction Among the inhibitory factors affecting the growth and yield of crops, drought is the most important factor in reducing production, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Since agriculture in Iran, with more than 90% of water resources being used as the main water user in agriculture, any saving in this sector will be an effective contribution to the conservation of water resources. Biocahr is used in cases such as drought stress, salinity, weeds, soil degradation by various factors, carbon sequestration, coping with the spread of greenhouse gases. In order to study evaluation the effects of biochar and mycorrhizal symbiosis application on reduction water stress in corn a field experiment. Materials and methods In order to investigate the effect of drought stress on the row number per ear, seed number per row, seed number per ear , 1000-seed weight, seed yield, chlorophyll a and b and harvest index of corn, a split split plot arranged in complete randomized blocks design with three replications in Agricultural Research Center of Markazi Province in 2014-2015 crop season. main plots consisted of two level of irrigation, water stress and irrigation (control, sub mplots consisted of four level of biochar, non-application of biochar (control), application of 7 ton biochar per hectare, 14 ton biochar per hectare, 21 ton biochar per hectare and sub-sub-plot consist of two level of mycorrhiza fungus,(non application of mycorrhiza fungus (control), application of mycorrhiza fungus. In the case of the main factor where two levels of irrigation and limited irrigation (stress), according to available facilities, using a class A evaporation pan (for irrigation after 60 mm evaporation and for stress; irrigation after 110 mm evaporation) Was considered. It should be noted that the time of application of water stress from the 8-leaf stage of corn was considered. Results and discussion Results showed that stress treatment seed number per row, 1000-seed weight and chlorophyll a had significant effect on this traits and in addition stress reduced the traits evaluated. Biochar application of 1000 seed weight and content of chlorophyll a and b did not have a significant effect, but had significant effect on other traits and at application of biochar (14 ton/ha), the yield increased 1.31 ton/ha compared to control. Mycorrhiza fungus treatment had significant effect on seed number per row, 1000-seed weight, seed yield and harvest index And increased by 8.3, 9.3, 7 and 11.8% respectively. In stress condition and application of biochar (7 tons per hectare), an increase of 10.8 percent of the weight of the 1000-thousandth weight was observed compared to the control. Interaction effects of stress and biochar had significant effects on the seed number per ear and 1000-seed weight. So intraction effects of stress and fungus had a significant effects on seed number per row, seed number per ear, seed yield and harvest index and the interaction effects of biochar and fungus had not significant effect on the traits evaluated. Finally the triple interaction effects had significant effects on seed number per ear, 1000-seed weight and seed yield. In stress condition, the highest grain yield was obtained with an average of 13.87 t / ha with biochar application of 14 t / ha. Conclusions The overall results of the experiment showed that under stress conditions, biochar had a significant effect on the final yield of corn grain, so that the grain yield was obtained with a mean of 13.87 ton/ha and in the absence of using the fungus and application level of 14 ton/ha (third level) which indicates a 12% increase in grain yield under stress conditions, compared to non-application of biohazard in stress conditions. Regarding the remaining traits, it was also observed that under stress conditions and using of biochar levels, especially at the level of 14 ton/ha, it had the highest efficiency due to the climate, ecological conditions of the study area and increased the traits.