Testing foliar biofertilizer based on natural fungal extract and nutrients on corn yield

Abstract

The use of biofertilizers applied via the foliar route has been highlighted as a positive nutrition complement, with variable responses according to the interaction between the plant (phenological phase), product composition (origin and processing) and year of cultivation. In this study, the objective was to evaluate the agronomic performance of corn under foliar application of biofertilizer in different phenological stages. The experiments were conducted for two consecutive years in the state of Minas Gerais (Uberlândia, Brazil), using two hybrids P30K75 and Status in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The nutritional managements were: (i): foliar biofertilizer at the dose of 0.5 L ha⁻¹ in stage V4 (FBF ^{0.5 V4}); (ii): foliar biofertilizer at the dose of 1.0 L ha⁻¹ in stage V4 (FBF ^{1.0 V4}); (iii) foliar biofertilizer at the dose of 0.5 L ha⁻¹ in the V4 stage and 0.5 L ha⁻¹ in the V8 stage (FBF ^{1.0 V4}), and Control without biofertilizer application. All treatments were performed in the two years of cultivation. The application of foliar biofertilizer based on natural fungal extract and nutrients is favorable to corn productivity. The application of 0.5–1.0 L ha⁻¹ in stage V4 generates increments between 9.9 and 13.8% in productivity.

Keywords:

• Complementary nutrition
• foliar organic fertilization
• Zea mays L

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.