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Journal of Plant Nutrition
ISSN: 0190-4167 (Print) 1532-4087 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lpla20
Effect of seaweed sap as foliar spray on growth
and yield of hybrid maize
P. K. Basavaraja, N. D. Yogendra, S. T. Zodape, Ravi Prakash & Arup Ghosh
To cite this article: P. K. Basavaraja, N. D. Yogendra, S. T. Zodape, Ravi Prakash & Arup Ghosh
(2018): Effect of seaweed sap as foliar spray on growth and yield of hybrid maize, Journal of Plant
Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/01904167.2018.1463381
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2018.1463381
Published online: 07 May 2018.
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Effect of seaweed sap as foliar spray on growth and yield
of hybrid maize
P. K. Basavaraja
a
, N. D. Yogendra
b
, S. T. Zodape
c
, Ravi Prakash
c
, and Arup Ghosh
c
a
AICRP on STCR, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, India;
b
CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and
Aromatic Plants, Research Centre, Bangalore, India;
c
CSIR - Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute,
Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 28 April 2017
Accepted 5 March 2018
ABSTRACT
Seaweeds are important marine renewable resources. Use of seaweeds as
fertilizers has allowed for substitution in place of conventional synthetic
fertilizers. This study was conducted to examine the effect of seaweed liquid
extract (SLE) on growth, yield, and nutrient uptake by hybrid maize. The
experiments were conducted in ZARS, Vishweshwaraiah Canal farm, Mandya
(Karnataka, India) during the rabi season of 2011–2013 to study the effect of
foliar applications of Kappaphycus alvarezii (K sap) and Gracilaria edulis (G
sap) sap on growth and yield response of hybrid maize “NAH 1137”. Three
foliar sprays of both saps were applied at the rate of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10, and
15.0% (v/v) along with water spray as a control at different stages of the crop.
It was found that grain yield increased significantly by 18.54% and 26.04% for
plants receiving 10% concentrations of both K. alvarezii and G. edulis sap
respectively, over control. The increase in yield was attributed to increase in
the number of rows in cob, cob length, and 100 grain weight. This
investigation concludes that application of both the saps at 10% increased
the nutrient uptake, grain, and stover yield over control.
KEYWORDS
foliar spray; growth and
yield; maize; seaweed extract
Introduction
Foliar fertilization or foliar feeding entails the application of nutrients via spraying to plant leaves and
stems and their absorption at those sites. The advantages of foliar fertilizers were more noticeable to
growing conditions restricting the incorporation of nutrients from the soil (Verma et al. 2000). Liquid
extracts obtained from seaweeds have recently gained importance as foliar sprays for many crops includ-
ing various grasses, cereals, flowers, and vegetable species (Crouch and Van Staden 1994 and Karthi-
keyan and Shanmugam 2016). In recent years, the use of seaweed extracts has gained popularity due to
their potential use in organic and sustainable agriculture (Russo and Beryln 1990). The seaweed, when
applied to plants as a foliar spray, can increase the rate of cell division and elongation in those plants.
The seaweed concentrates are applied to crops as root dips, soil drenches, or foliar sprays. Seaweed
concentrates are effective biostimulant in many crops including vegetables, trees, flowering plants, and
grain crops (Stirk et al. 2004). Chemical analysis of seaweeds and their extracts have revealed the pres-
ence of a wide variety of plant growth regulators such as auxins and cytokinins in varying amounts
(Jameson 1993; Zhang and Ervin 2004,2008; Karthikeyan and Shanmugam 2016). It has been conjec-
tured that seaweed liquid extracts can partially substitute for the requirement of chemical fertilizers
(Hern
andez-Herrera et al. 2014) when applied concomitantly.
CONTACT P. K. Basavaraja pujarikbraj@gmail.com AICRP on STCR, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK,
Bengaluru-560065, India.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lpla.
© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION
https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2018.1463381
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important cereal crops cultivated in more than 160 countries.
In India, it ranks fourth after rice, wheat, and sorghum. Maize is being consumed both as food
and fodder and in addition, it is also required by various industries. In the world, it is grown over
an area of 145 million hectare with an annual production of 695 million tons and the productivity
of 4820 kg ha
¡1
. Since maize is an exhaustive crop, the nutrient requirement cannot be supplied
only through native nutrient reserves; hence additional nutrients can be met by fertilizer applica-
tion. In Karnataka maize is grown over 1340 hectares with an annual production of 3914.8 tons
with a productivity of 2921 kg ha
¡1
(Anonymous 2015). Maize yield is low due to the imbalanced
application of fertilizers. The recommendation of fertilizer dose is a challenge to scientists as it
should meet both nutrient demand of crop and sustain the production system (Shankar and
Umesh 2008).
The use of seaweed extracts (SWEs) or concentrates is more common than using raw seaweed,
due to its commercial availability and ease of application (Verkleij 1992). SWE application resulted
in greater root-to-shoot ratios as compared to untreated control in maize (Jeannin and Morot
1991), tomato (Crouch and Van Staden 1992), and wheat plants (Mooney 1985, Kumar and Sahoo
2011). Additional crops for which increased yields from seaweed-based amendment application
have been observed include lettuce (Crouch et al. 1990), spinach (Cassan et al. 1992), soybean
(Rathore et al. 2009), olives (Chouliaras et al. 2009), potato (Lopez-Mosquera 1997), strawberries
(Roussos et al. 2009), watermelons (Abdel-Mawgoud et al. 2010), and beans (Temple and Bomke
1989, Beckett et al. 1994). Olive trees treated with two winter-time applications of 17.5 ml SWE/
tree developed color sooner than untreated trees (Chouliaras et al. 2009). Studies on wheat by
Shah et al. (2013)revealedthatthegrainyieldwheatincreasedsignificantly by19.74% and 13.16%
for plants receiving 7.5% and 5.0% concentrations of Kappaphycus alvarezii and Gracilaria edulis
sap, respectively, over water-sprayed control. Yield and quality improvement of green gram was
reported by Pramanick et al. (2013) with the application of seaweed sap as a foliar spray at differ-
ent concentrations. The highest grain yield was recorded with applications of 15% Kappaphycus
sap, followed by 15% Gracilaria sap resulting in an increase by 38.97% and 33.58% grain yield,
respectively, compared to the control. Leindah Devi and Mani (2015) reported increase in the yield
of rice by 11.80% and 9.52% for application of seaweed extract @ 15% K sap or 15% G sap with
100% RDF at three different intervals. Similar kinds of results were reported by Ashok Pal et al.
(2015) in sweet corn. Karthikeyan and Shanmugam (2016)testedefficacy of the bio-stimulant over
27 different vegetable crops with the application of seaweed K. alvarezii. Application of 3–4foliar
applications based on the crop cycle improved the growth, yield, and quality of the produce. An
increase of 11% to 52% in the yield levels were noticed for different vegetable crops. There is not
much information available on application of SWE on maize growth, yield, and nutrient uptake.
In this context the present work was conducted to study the effect of seaweed sap on the growth
and yield of hybrid maize “NAH 1137”.
Materials and methods
Experimental location
The field experiments with hybrid maize “NAH 1137”were conducted in Vishweshwaraiah Canal
Farm (V.C. Farm), Zonal Agricultural Research Station (ZARS), Mandya, Karnataka, India, which
comes under Southern dry zone (Zone-6) of Karnataka. This zone lies in the latitude of N:
123401200 and longitude of E: 764902100 . The soils of the experimental site were found to be neutral
in soil reaction with sandy loam in texture. Soil samples were collected prior to sowing and ana-
lyzed for physicochemical characteristics. The initial soil characteristics of the experimental site
were given in Table 1. The average annual rainfall of experimental location was 450 mm during
2012 and 595.6 mm during 2013. The monthly rain fall distribution of the experimental location
was given in Figure 1.
2P. K. BASAVARAJA ET AL.
Experimental details
Field experiments were conducted at V.C. Farm, ZARS, Mandya, Karnataka, India. Experiment was
laid out in randomized block design with ten treatments viz.,T
1:
2.5% K CRDF, T
2:
5% K CRDF, T
3:
10% K CRDF, T
4:
15% K CRDF, T
5:
2.5% G CRDF, T
6:
5% G CRDF, T
7:
10% G CRDF, T
8
: 15% G
CRDF, T
9
: RDF CWater spray, T
10
: 7.5%K C50% RDF with three replications for two seasons during
2012 and 2013. After the preparation of the land, plots were laid out as per the experiment layout. The
same field and plots were laid out for two years. The plot size adopted for the experiment was 4.8 m £
3.6 m with row-to-row spacing of 60 cm and plant-to-plant spacing of 30 cm. Fertilizers were added to
Table 1. Initial soil characteristics of maize experimental site.
Particulars Values
A. Physical properties
Particle size distribution
Sand (%) 66.39
Silt (%) 18.86
Clay (%) 14.75
Textural class Sandy loam
B. Chemical properties
pH (1:2.5) 7.35
EC (dSm
¡1
) 0.12
OC (%) 1.18
CEC (C mol (P
C
)kg
¡1
12.50
Available N (kg ha
¡1
) 283.02
Available P
2
O
5
(kg ha
¡1
) 63.24
Available K
2
O (kg ha
¡1
) 196.80
Available S (ppm) 13.73
Exchangeable Ca (C mol P
(C)
kg
¡1
) 1.60
Exchangeable Mg (C mol P
(C)
kg
¡1
) 1.20
Available Fe (ppm) 17.87
Available Zn (ppm) 2.08
Available Cu (ppm) 0.88
Available Mn (ppm) 11.12
Figure 1. Monthly rainfall distribution at V.C Farm, ZARS, Mandya during 2012 and 2013.
JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 3
the soil on the day of sowing as per treatment details. Farm yard manure (FYM) was applied at the rate
of 10 t ha
¡1
before 15 days of sowing. Fertilizers N:P
2
O:K
2
O and ZnSO
4
at the rate of 150:75:40 and
10 kg ha
¡1
respectively, were applied. Nitrogen (N) was applied as urea, phosphorus pentoxide (P
2
O
5
)
as single super phosphate (SSP), K
2
O as muriate of potash (MOP), and zinc (Zn) was applied as
ZnSO
4
. Top dressing was done with 50% N with two splits at 30 and 45 days after sowing. Soon after
weeding, the soil was earthed up at 30 d after top dressing. For T
10
treatment half of the recommended
dose of fertilizers was applied. T
9
treatment was considered as a control. The crop was irrigated when-
ever there was a need.
The seaweed sap was extracted from fresh K. alvarezii (K sap) and G. edulis (G sap) seaweeds using
the methodology of Eswaran et al. (2005) and was used in this study with the appropriate dilutions as
per treatments along with surfactants for proper adherence. Both the saps were analyzed for nutrient
contents following the methods described by Rathore et al. (2009). The nutrient composition of both
the saps is given in Table 2. The first spray of seaweed saps of different concentrations of K sap and G
sap was applied separately on the 20th (early vegetative growth stage) day after sowing and the remain-
ing two sprays were applied on the 40th (tassel initiation) and 70th (cob formation stage) days after
sowing.
Observations
Five healthy plants were randomly selected and tagged in each plot for recording observations. The
height was recorded at the time of harvest from ground level to the extreme growing tip using meter
scale. Similarly, number of leaves per plant, cob length (cm), test weight (100 grains weight), and yield
parameters viz., grain and stover yield were recorded in each plot.
Analytical methods
Grain and stover samples collected at harvest were oven-dried at 70C to get a constant weight and
ground to pass through a 0.5-mm sieve and were used for nutrient analysis. Nitrogen (N) content was
determined following the semi-micro Kjeldahl method (AOAC 1990) after plant tissue was oxidized
and decomposed by sulfuric acid with a digestion mixture [potassium sulfate (K
2
SO
4
): copper sulfate
Table 2. Composition of K. alvarezii and G. edulis sap.
Amount in ppm
Constituents Kappaphycus alvarezii sap Gracilaria edulis sap
Indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) 26.52 8.67
Zeatin 19.65 3.13
Gibberellin (GA
3
) 23.65 ND
Choline 57.3 35.75
Glycine betaine 79.33 62.96
Betain aldehyde Present Present
Na
C
198 1952
K
C
33.654 682.1
Ca
2C
321 352
Mg
2C
112 311
Zn
2C
4.7 0.628
Mn
2C
2.1 32.9
Fe
2C
86.1 12.67
Cr
3C
32 0.204
Cu
2C
0.65 0.044
Ni
3C
3.45 0.212
P
3C
17.45 ND
ND
: Not detected.
4P. K. BASAVARAJA ET AL.
(CuSO
4
); 5:1]. Phosphorus (P) was determined by vanadomolybdate yellow method spectrophotomet-
rically and potassium (K) was estimated by flame photometry (Jackson 1973).
Statistical analysis
The pooled data of two years collected from the experiment at different growth stages were subjected to
statistical analysis as described by Gomez and Gomez (1984). Statistical analysis was carried out by tak-
ing the average of five plants from each plot. For grain and stover yield calculation net plot was consid-
ered by separating adjacent boarder rows. The level of significance used in “F”and “t”test was PD
0.05. Critical difference (CD) values were calculated for the PD0.05 whenever “F”test was found
significant.
Results and discussions
Plant growth and yield attributes
The results of two years’pooled data in Table 3 illustrated the growth parameter of maize as influenced
by seaweed sap application at different concentrations applied at different growth stages of maize.
There was no significant difference in the plant height. However, a significant increase in the number
of leaves was observed with the application of K sap at 15% concentration and G sap at 10% as com-
pared to 7.5% K sap with 50% RDF (T
10
). Similarly, a significant increase in the cob length of maize
was observed with the application of K or G sap at 10% concentration compared to 7.5% K sap C50%
RDF. Our results are in conformity with the findings of Blunden (1991) who stated that concentration
of mineral nutrient elements present in commercial seaweed concentrates (SWCs) alone cannot
account for the growth responses elicited by seaweed extracts. Beneficial effects observed in various
plant growth bioassays have led to the speculation that SWCs contain plant growth-regulatory substan-
ces (Williams et al. 1981; Tay et al. 1985; Mooney and Van Staden 1986). Furthermore, the wide range
of growth responses induced by seaweed extracts implies the presence of more than one group of plant
growth promoting substances/hormones (Crouch and Van Staden 1993).
Application of seaweed saps at different concentrations significantly influenced the yield parameters
of maize (Table 4). Application of 10% K or G sap significantly influenced the number of grains in
each row, test weight, and grain and stover yield of maize as compared to 7.5% K sap C50% RDF and
control (RDF Cwater spray). Similarly, increase in the concentration of either K or G sap from 2.5%
to 10% increased the number of grains in each row, 100 grain weight, and yield of maize. However, fur-
ther increases in the concentration of either of the saps resulted in a slight decrease in the yield parame-
ters. Significantly higher grain yield (66.75 and 62.78 q ha
¡1
) was noticed with the application of 10%
Table 3. Effect of seaweed saps application on growth parameters of maize crop.
Plant height (cm) No. of leaves per plants Cob length (cm)
Treatments 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled
T
1:
2.5% K CRDF 213.80 177.27 195.53 13.00 10.53 11.77 15.77 15.87 15.82
T
2:
5% K CRDF 217.27 182.07 199.67 13.40 11.60 12.50 16.27 16.34 16.30
T
3:
10% K CRDF 220.20 192.60 206.40 13.40 12.00 12.70 16.87 17.43 17.15
T
4:
15% K CRDF 229.20 183.93 206.57 13.80 11.67 12.73 16.83 16.85 16.84
T
5:
2.5% G CRDF 222.40 173.40 197.90 12.53 11.33 11.93 16.10 16.80 16.45
T
6:
5% G CRDF 218.50 180.20 199.35 13.27 10.87 12.07 16.47 16.71 16.59
T
7:
10% G CRDF 214.25 187.20 200.73 13.46 12.27 12.86 17.13 16.89 17.01
T
8:
15% G CRDF 214.80 176.07 195.43 13.43 10.80 12.12 16.17 16.27 16.22
T
9:
RDF CWater spray 220.21 173.27 196.74 13.20 10.67 11.93 16.27 15.78 16.02
T
10:
7.5% K C50% RDF 217.80 170.93 194.37 12.33 9.87 11.10 15.60 15.00 15.30
SEm§2.57 7.44 5.57 0.40 0.37 0.39 0.47 0.26 0.38
CD (5%) NS NS NS 1.18 1.11 1.11 1.40 0.77 1.09
JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 5
G or K sap spray, respectively, followed by T
6
(61.97 q ha
¡1
) and T
4
(61.20 q ha
¡1
) as compared to T
10
and T
9
(RDFCwater spray)
.
The rest of the treatments were found to be on par. Application of 50%
RDF C7.5% K sap recorded on par grain and stover yield as compared to RDF (T
9
, control). This
clearly shows the benefit of K sap application i.e., at 10% concentration to achieve good yield of hybrid
maize. The increase in yield parameters was mainly attributed to increases in number of rows in cob,
cob length, and 100 grains weight. In many crops yield is associated with the number of flowers at
maturity. As the onset and development of flowering and the number of flowers produced are linked
to the developmental stage of plants, seaweed extracts probably encouraged flowering by initiating
robust plant growth. Mondal et al. (2015) also attributed the yield improvement in maize to an increase
in the number of grains per plant which was brought about by enhanced cob length and consequent
greater kernel set, although no improvement in single seed weight was observed in their study. Yield
increases in seaweed-treated plants are thought to be associated with the hormonal substances present
in the extracts, especially cytokinins (Featonby-Smith and Van Staden 1984).
Seaweed extract increased fruit yield when sprayed on tomato plants during the vegetative stage,
producing large-sized fruits (30% increase in fresh fruit weight over the control) with superior quality
(Crouch and Van Staden 1992). The number of flowers and seeds per flower head increased (as much
as 50% over the control) (Van Staden et al. 1994) when marigold seedlings were treated with SWC Kel-
pak immediately after transplanting (Aldworth and Van Staden 1987). Similarly, a substantial increase
in yield was achieved in barley (Featon-Smith and Van Staden 1987) and peppers (Arthur et al. 2003)
after treatment with Kelpak. In the present study application of seaweed extract as foliar spray at three
different stages viz., (20, 40, and 70 days after sowing of the crop) at early vegetative, initiation of tassel,
and at maturity has helped the crop to achieve higher grain and stover yield as compared to control.
In the present study application of K and G sap spray at 10% significantly increased the number of
rows in a cob and test weight (100 grains weight) as compared to control (RDF Cwater spray) and
7.5% K with 50% RDF. These results are in agreement with the findings of Reddy et al. (2016) who
reported that the application of Kappaphycus sap and Gracilaria sap through foliar application at 10%
concentration increased yield of black gram by 60.8% and 50.8% respectively, over the control (water
spray). Similarly, Zodape et al. (2008) reported that the treatment with seaweed extract application
increased length (31.7%), diameter (18.2%), and yield (37.4%) of Ablemoschus esculentus than the
control.
Application of higher spray concentration of both the saps in the present study resulted in decline in
grain yield. The stover yield of maize showed a similar trend to that of grain yield. Significant increase
in stover yield of maize was noticed with the application of both the saps (K and G sap) up to 10% con-
centration with RDF. Stover yield at 10% concentration of both the saps was significantly higher com-
pared to control and 7.5% K with 50% RDF. Further increase in the concentrations of both the saps
Table 4. Effect of seaweed saps application on yield parameters of maize crop.
No. of grains in
each row
Test weight
(g)
Grain yield
(q ha
¡1
)
Stover yield
(q ha
¡1
)
Treatments 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled
T
1:
2.5% K CRDF 34.11 33.30 33.71 33.17 29.50 31.33 71.31 41.12 56.21 101.20 60.28 80.74
T
2:
5% K CRDF 35.11 34.48 34.80 34.17 31.17 32.67 74.20 42.01 58.10 106.02 62.21 84.11
T
3:
10% K CRDF 35.00 35.28 35.14 36.17 32.00 34.08 76.95 48.61 62.78 116.15 64.62 90.38
T
4:
15% K CRDF 34.67 35.11 34.89 34.67 31.00 32.83 75.62 46.78 61.20 110.84 61.73 86.28
T
5:
2.5% G CRDF 36.89 35.30 36.09 34.83 29.50 32.17 77.85 41.28 59.57 108.91 62.21 85.56
T
6:
5% G CRDF 35.67 34.43 35.05 35.25 29.83 32.54 81.22 42.72 61.97 113.54 63.66 88.60
T
7:
10% G CRDF 35.00 35.03 35.02 37.17 31.74 34.45 82.77 50.73 66.75 115.66 66.55 91.11
T
8:
15% G CRDF 34.78 34.10 34.44 34.00 30.00 32.00 75.57 46.55 61.06 109.88 63.18 86.53
T
9:
RDF CWater spray 30.78 32.63 31.71 32.83 29.47 31.15 66.40 39.53 52.96 100.23 55.46 77.85
T
10:
7.5% K C50% RDF 33.00 32.22 32.61 32.00 29.83 30.92 60.47 37.30 48.88 93.48 52.47 72.97
SEm§1.53 0.62 0.77 0.93 0.75 0.84 3.34 1.17 2.50 4.99 3.26 4.32
CD (5%) 4.59 1.83 2.21 2.77 2.23 2.42 10.01 3.47 7.17 14.95 9.68 12.40
6P. K. BASAVARAJA ET AL.
resulted in a slight decline in the stover yield of maize. These results accord with Gaurav Kumar and
Dinabandu Sahoo (2011) who reported that application of lower concentration of SWE enhanced per
cent germination, growth and yield as measured by kernel number and seed dry weight. All the growth
and yield parameters were found to be higher at the lower concentration (20% concentration) as com-
pared to higher concentration of SWE (100% concentration) in wheat. These results are in accordance
with the findings of Whapham et al. (1993) who reported application of a low concentration of Asco-
phyllum nodosum extract to soil or on foliage of tomatoes produced leaves with higher chlorophyll con-
tent than those of untreated controls. This increase in chlorophyll content was a result of reduction in
chlorophyll degradation, which might have been caused in part by betaines in the seaweed extract.
Nutrient uptake by maize
Pooled data on total nutrient uptake by maize crop is presented in Tables 5,6, and 7. Application of
seaweed saps at different concentrations significantly influenced major nutrients uptake (N, P, and K)
by maize grain and stover.
Significantly higher N uptake by maize grain was recorded with 10% K sap spray (88.57 kg ha
¡1
)
followed by 10% G sap spray (T
7
) (82.21 kg ha
¡1
) as compared to control (T
9
) and 7.5% K C50%
RDF. Similarly, significantly higher total N uptake by maize stover was noticed with 15% K spray (T
4
)
(82.99 kg ha
¡1
) followed by 5% G sap spray (T
6
) (82.60 kg ha
¡1
) and rest of the treatments were found
to be significantly different from control (T
9
) (62.82 kg ha
¡1
) and 7.5% K C50% RDF (T
10
) (58.50 kg
ha
¡1
). A similar trend was noticed for total N uptake by maize.
There was a significant variation in P uptake by maize grain (Table 6). Significantly higher P uptake
by maize grain was noticed with the application of 10% G spray (23.72 kg ha
¡1
) followed by 5% G
spray (21.23 kg ha
¡1
) and 10% K spray (20.55 kg ha
¡1
) as compared to T
10
(15.84 kg ha
1
). However,
these treatments were on par. Significantly higher P uptake by stover was noticed with the application
of 10% K sap spray followed by 2.5% G sap spray as compared to control. Similarly, significantly higher
total P uptake by maize crop was noticed with the application of 10% G (50.56 kg ha
¡1
) and 10% K sap
spray (49.58 kg ha
¡1
) as compared to control (35.95 kg ha
¡1
). However, increase in K or G sap concen-
tration above 10% reduced the total P uptake.
Significantly higher K uptake by maize grain was recorded with 10% G sap spray (26.83 kg ha
¡1
)
followed by 15% G sap (24.40 kg ha
¡1
), and 10% K sap spray (23.53 kg ha
¡1
) as compared to control
and 7.5% K C50% RDF. However, there was no significant difference with K uptake by stover. Appli-
cation of either 10% K or 10% G sap spray significantly influenced the total K uptake by maize crop as
compared to 7.5% K C50% RDF (Table 7). However, K content was positively affected as a result of
using seaweed extract as mentioned by Crouch et al. (1990) on lettuce, Turan and Kose (2004)on
grapevine, Mancuso et al. (2006), and Rathore et al. (2009) on soybean. Increase in mineral nutrient
Table 5. Effect of seaweed saps application on N uptake (kg ha
¡1
) by maize crop.
Grain Stover Total
Treatments 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled
T
1:
2.5% K CRDF 84.69 59.55 72.12 102.58 32.44 67.51 187.27 91.99 139.63
T
2:
5% K CRDF 97.83 62.05 79.94 126.51 36.33 81.42 224.34 98.38 161.36
T
3:
10% K CRDF 105.20 71.93 88.57 126.98 38.23 82.60 232.18 110.16 171.17
T
4:
15% K CRDF 93.41 64.88 79.15 126.91 39.07 82.99 220.32 103.95 162.14
T
5:
2.5% G CRDF 83.29 56.62 69.96 122.88 39.87 81.37 206.17 96.78 151.48
T
6:
5% G CRDF 87.71 61.46 74.58 126.85 38.34 82.60 214.57 99.80 157.19
T
7:
10% G CRDF 95.61 68.82 82.21 115.38 39.73 77.56 210.99 108.55 159.77
T
8:
15% G CRDF 93.90 63.00 78.45 116.14 34.93 75.54 210.04 97.93 153.99
T
9:
RDF CWater spray 79.29 55.80 67.55 97.96 27.68 62.82 177.25 83.48 130.37
T
10:
7.5% K C50% RDF 70.51 50.12 60.31 89.04 27.95 58.50 159.55 78.07 118.81
SEm§3.66 2.20 3.02 5.01 2.23 1.43 6.84 3.37 5.39
CD (5%) 10.87 6.54 8.66 14.88 6.63 4.11 20.31 10.01 15.46
JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 7
concentration (N, P, and K) of grapevines and cucumber was reported by Mancuso et al. (2006)in
response to the application of seaweed extract which are in line with the findings of the present study.
Increase in the spray concentration of K sap up to 10% significantly increased the uptake of macro
nutrients (N, P, K, and S) by maize. Similarly, application of G sap up to 5% concentration increased
total uptake of macronutrients (N, P and K). The results of the present studies were in accordance with
the findings of Shah et al. (2013) who reported foliar application of K. alvarezii and G. edulis sap
increased the nutrient uptake in wheat with increasing the concentration of both sap and maximum
uptake of N, K, Ca, Mg and S was obtained at 5% G. edulis sap whereas maximum uptake of N and P
was obtained at 7.5% K sap. Several studies have shown that application of seaweed extracts can
increase nutrient uptake by plants (Crouch et al. 1990; Mancuso et al. 2006; Jannin et al. 2013). Appli-
cation of seaweed saps resulted in increased root growth and ability of some components of seaweed
extracts, e.g., organic acids to chelate nutrients (Crouch et al. 1990) and enhanced expression of genes
that encode for proteins involved in N uptake and assimilation (Jannin et al. 2013).
These results are in accordance with findings of Mohamed and Sehraway (2013) who studied the
effect of SWE on fruiting of Hindy Bisinnera mango tree. They reported that application of SWE sig-
nificantly influenced N, P, K, Mg, Zn, Fe, and Mn content of leaf compared to control. As a biostimu-
lant, seaweed sap may contain chelating compounds (mannitol) that can increase nutrient availability;
a better absorption of the chelated compounds at leaf level has been suggested (Salat 2004). In addition,
concentrates of SWE can increase root size, thus increasing the volume of soil sampled by a plant
(Nelson and van Staden 1984), which indeed helps in the uptake of nutrients by plant. Increasing
Table 6. Effect of seaweed saps application on P uptake (kg ha
¡1
) by maize crop.
Grain Stover Total
Treatments 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled
T
1:
2.5% K CRDF 21.76 12.55 17.16 21.49 21.72 21.60 43.25 34.27 38.76
T
2:
5% K CRDF 23.72 14.49 19.11 32.46 18.37 25.42 56.18 32.86 44.52
T
3:
10% K CRDF 23.63 17.46 20.55 38.97 19.09 29.03 62.60 36.55 49.58
T
4:
15% K CRDF 24.94 14.55 19.75 29.83 18.91 24.37 54.77 33.46 44.12
T
5:
2.5% G CRDF 23.80 13.60 18.70 34.39 21.44 27.92 58.19 35.04 46.62
T
6:
5% G CRDF 28.71 13.74 21.23 34.67 20.16 27.41 63.38 33.9 48.64
T
7:
10% G CRDF 30.29 17.15 23.72 32.79 20.89 26.84 63.08 38.04 50.56
T
8:
15% G CRDF 24.29 14.89 19.59 25.10 18.55 21.83 49.39 33.44 41.42
T
9:
RDF CWater spray 21.07 12.15 16.61 21.66 17.01 19.33 42.74 29.16 35.95
T
10:
7.5% K C50% RDF 19.84 11.84 15.84 28.69 15.81 22.25 48.53 27.65 38.09
SEm§1.87 0.73 1.43 2.97 2.49 2.27 3.00 2.55 2.78
CD (5%) 5.57 2.17 4.11 8.83 NS 6.50 8.91 7.57 7.97
Table 7. Effect of seaweed saps application on K uptake (kg ha
¡1
) by maize crop.
Grain Stover Total
Treatments 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled 2012 2013 Pooled
T
1:
2.5% K CRDF 20.03 21.04 20.54 125.59 60.60 93.10 145.62 81.64 113.63
T
2:
5% K CRDF 21.64 22.61 22.12 144.43 70.99 107.71 166.07 93.60 129.84
T
3:
10% K CRDF 22.76 24.30 23.53 147.01 77.26 112.14 169.77 101.56 135.67
T
4:
15% K CRDF 19.97 21.91 20.94 131.55 65.23 98.39 151.53 87.14 119.34
T
5:
2.5% G CRDF 20.33 19.69 20.01 142.14 71.39 106.77 162.47 91.08 126.78
T
6:
5% G CRDF 22.97 20.68 21.82 145.45 73.98 109.72 168.42 94.66 131.54
T
7:
10% G CRDF 27.71 25.94 26.83 139.54 74.09 106.82 167.25 100.03 133.64
T
8:
15% G CRDF 26.11 22.70 24.40 137.52 73.80 105.66 163.63 96.79 130.21
T
9:
RDF CWater spray 17.73 19.40 18.57 115.43 58.67 87.05 133.17 78.07 105.62
T
10:
7.5% K C50% RDF 17.91 18.17 18.04 103.34 55.72 79.53 121.26 73.89 97.58
SEm§1.42 0.79 1.15 15.80 4.49 11.592 16.11 4.68 11.84
CD (5%) 4.21 2.34 3.29 NS 13.33 33.248 47.86 13.91 33.97
8P. K. BASAVARAJA ET AL.
evidence exists that nutrient uptake and movement within plants is under hormonal control
(Glass 1989). Interestingly, seaweed (K. alvarezii and G. edulis) saps used in the present study con-
tained hormones (Prasad et al. 2010) when used as foliar application might be responsible for increas-
ing nutrient uptake by maize crop. Increase in nutrient concentration was observed by Rathore et al.
(2009) and Elmotty et al. (2010) in soybean and mango respectively, due to the application of seaweed
extract. Lingakumar et al. (2004) reported that the foliar application of 1% G. edulis increased the ger-
mination, growth, yield, and uptake of the nutrient in Zea mays.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the result of this study highlights the role of seaweed as foliar organic nutrient source on
the growth and yield of hybrid maize “NAH 1137”. Application of 10% of K sap or G sap was found to
be significantly superior in obtaining higher grain and stover yield of maize. Maize grain and stover
yield increased significantly by 18.54%, 26.04%, and 16.01%, 17.03% for plants receiving 10% concen-
trations of K. alvarezii and G. edulis sap respectively, over control. Application of 7.5% K sap spray
with 50% RDF recorded on par grain and stover yield as that of control treatment (RDF Cwater
spray). The present investigation proved that both the seaweed saps can be used as a foliar organic
nutrient source for enhancing growth and yield of hybrid maize.
Funding
The authors are thankful to CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) for providing finan-
cial assistance for carrying out this research work.
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