Effect of Zinc-Phosphorus Interaction on Corn Silage Grown on Sandy Soil
by
Saad Drissi 1,*, Abdelhadi Aït Houssa 2, Ahmed Bamouh 1, Jean-Marie Coquant 3 and Mohamed Benbella 2
Saad Drissi 1,*, Abdelhadi Aït Houssa 2, Ahmed Bamouh 1, Jean-Marie Coquant 3 and Mohamed Benbella 2
1
Plant Production, Protection and Biotechnology Department, Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences (IAV Hassan II), Rabat 10101, Morocco
2
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, National Agricultural School of Meknes (ENAM), Meknes 50001, Morocco
3
Moroccan Laboratory of Agriculture (LABOMAG), Casablanca 20000, Morocco
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Elizabeth Baggs
Agriculture 2015, 5(4), 1047-1059; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture5041047
Received: 17 July 2015 / Revised: 30 September 2015 / Accepted: 15 October 2015 / Published: 29 October 2015
This study investigated the response of corn silage to different combinations of zinc (Zn) and phosphorus (P) soil supply when grown in sandy soil. The soil was naturally poor in extractable Zn and rich in plant-available P. The experiment was conducted in outdoor containers. The treatments consisted of soil supply combinations of 3 levels of Zn (0, 5 and 10 mg Zn kg−1 of dry soil) and 4 levels of P (0, 12, 36 and 72 mg P2O5 kg−1 of dry soil). The results showed the absence of a significant effect (at p ≤ 0.05) of Zn-P interaction on plant growth, plant mineral content or total aerial dry weight at harvest. P application depressed Zn shoot content, and conversely, Zn supply slightly reduced P shoot content. The total aerial dry weight at harvest was not enhanced by P application. However, it was significantly increased by Zn supply of 5 mg·kg−1 only for the highest P (72 mg·kg−1) application (at p ≤ 0.05). This increase was around 15% compared to no Zn soil supply. It was especially linked to kernel dry weight and particularly to pollination rate. For the highest level of P supply, Zn applications significantly enhanced (at p ≤ 0.05) the kernel dry weight and the pollination rate by 22.1% and 38.4% respectively, compared to no Zn supply.
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Keywords:
zinc deficiency; phosphorus; corn silage; sandy soil
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Drissi, S.; Houssa, A.A.; Bamouh, A.; Coquant, J.-M.; Benbella, M. Effect of Zinc-Phosphorus Interaction on Corn Silage Grown on Sandy Soil. Agriculture 2015, 5, 1047-1059.
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