Abstract
Salinity exerts significant negative impacts on growth and productivity of crop plants and numerous management practices are used to improve crop performance under saline environments. Micronutrients, plant growth promoting bacteria and biochar are known to improve crop productivity under stressful environments. Maize ( Zea mays L.) is an important cereal crop and its productivity is adversely impacted by salinity. Although boron (B) application, seed inoculation with boron-tolerant bacteria (BTB) and biochar are known to improve maize growth under stressful environments, there is less information on their combined impact in enhancing maize productivity on saline soils. This study investigated the impact of B seed coating combined with seed inoculation with BTB + biochar on maize productivity under saline soil. Four B seed coating levels [0.0 (no seed coating), 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 g B kg −1 seed], and individual or combined application of 5 % (w/w) maize stalk biochar, and seed inoculation with Bacillus sp. MN-54 BTB were included in the study. Different growth and yield attributes and grain quality were significantly improved by seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed coupled with biochar + BTB. Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB improved stomatal conductance by 32 %, photosynthetic rate by 15 %, and transpiration ratio by 52 % compared to seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar only. Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob −1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant −1 ), biological yield (95.5 g plant −1 ), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation. The same treatment resulted in the highest grain protein and B contents. It is concluded that B seed coating at 1.5 g B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB inoculation could significantly improve yield and quality of maize crop on saline soils. However, further field experiments investigating the underlying mechanisms are needed to reach concrete conclusions and large-scale recommendations.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment significantly improved growth, yield, and grain quality.
- Treatment
- seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed coupled with biochar + BTBe0
- Outcome
- growth and yield attributes and grain qualitye0
- Direction
- improvede0
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Different growth and yield attributes and grain quality were significantly improved by seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed coupled with biochar + BTB.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment raised stomatal conductance by 32% relative to boron-free coating with biochar only.
- Treatment
- Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTBe0
- Outcome
- stomatal conductancee0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 32 %e0
- Comparator
- seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar onlye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB improved stomatal conductance by 32 %, photosynthetic rate by 15 %, and transpiration ratio by 52 % compared to seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar only.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment raised photosynthetic rate by 15%.
- Treatment
- Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTBe0
- Outcome
- photosynthetic ratee0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 15 %e0
- Comparator
- seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar onlye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB improved stomatal conductance by 32 %, photosynthetic rate by 15 %, and transpiration ratio by 52 % compared to seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar only.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment raised transpiration ratio by 52%.
- Treatment
- Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTBe0
- Outcome
- transpiration ratioe0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 52 %e0
- Comparator
- seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar onlye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seed coating with 1.5 B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB improved stomatal conductance by 32 %, photosynthetic rate by 15 %, and transpiration ratio by 52 % compared to seed coating (0 B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar only.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment produced the highest plant height.
- Treatment
- B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculatione0
- Outcome
- plant heighte0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Value
- 189 cme0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob −1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant −1 ), biological yield (95.5 g plant −1 ), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment produced the highest number of grain rows cob −1.
- Treatment
- B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculatione0
- Outcome
- number of grain rows cob −1e0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Value
- 15.5e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob −1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant −1 ), biological yield (95.5 g plant −1 ), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment produced the highest grain yield.
- Treatment
- B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculatione0
- Outcome
- grain yielde0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Value
- 54.9 g plant −1e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob −1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant −1 ), biological yield (95.5 g plant −1 ), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment produced the highest biological yield.
- Treatment
- B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculatione0
- Outcome
- biological yielde0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Value
- 95.5 g plant −1e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob −1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant −1 ), biological yield (95.5 g plant −1 ), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment produced the highest harvest index.
- Treatment
- B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculatione0
- Outcome
- harvest indexe0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Value
- 57.6 %e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Similarly, the highest plant height (189 cm), number of grain rows cob −1 (15.5), grain yield (54.9 g plant −1 ), biological yield (95.5 g plant −1 ), and harvest index (57.6 %) were noted for B seed coating (1.5 g B kg −1 seed) combined with biochar + BTB inoculation.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined treatment produced the highest grain protein and boron contents.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The same treatment resulted in the highest grain protein and B contents.”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude the combined treatment could improve maize yield and quality on saline soils.
- Treatment
- B seed coating at 1.5 g B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB inoculatione0
- Outcome
- yield and qualitye0
- Setting
- saline soilse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“B seed coating at 1.5 g B kg −1 seed combined with biochar + BTB inoculation could significantly improve yield and quality of maize crop on saline soils.”
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See all 193 papers →8 of 15 groups shown: named compounds and organisms first, then groups whose results differ (checked claim by claim), then those with positive and negative results, then the smaller groups.
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.