Application of Surfactant and Biological Fertilizer On Yield of Corn Under Limited Irrigation Conditions.

Issues surrounding the availability of water in Iran have led many growers to implement different technologies to reduce the water requirement for crop production. One method is application of surfactants to enhance water use efficiency. Inoculating seeds with selected biofertilizers also have shown some benefits in terms of improving water use efficiency and phosphorus solubilization. The effect of biofertilizer along with application of surfactant on yield and yield components of corn was studied in a field experiment in 2011. The experiment carried as a split-split plot design. The main-plots were allocated to irrigation regimes consisted of conventional irrigation (control) and limited irrigation (irrigation on the basis of sensitive growth stages to water deficit determined earlier at the same location). The sub-plots included application of surfactant and no surfactant and sub-sub plots assigned to  fertilizer treatment consisted of 100% chemical fertilizer, biologic fertilizer with no chemical, 50% chemical fertilizer + biologic fertilizer, 25% chemical fertilizer + biologic fertilizer, and no  fertilizer as control. Implementation of limited irrigation reduced silage yield from 19161 kg ha^-1 to 15220 kg ha^-1 and grain yield from 6335 kg ha^-1 to 4294 kg ha^-1. Application of surfactant increased the efficiency of water consumption by corn plants led to 5% increase in  corn grain yield compared to untreated plots. Inoculation of seeds with biofertilizer enhanced grain and forage yield in both full and limited irrigation situation, but the response was more pronounced under no stress water condition.