The Role of Some Bio-stimulants on Yield Characters and Grain Chemical Composition of Maize Grown Under Saline Soil Conditions

Field experiment was conducted on maize at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture (Saba-Basha), Alexandria University, Egypt, during the growing season of 2017 for evaluating the role of some bio stimulants on yield characters and grain chemical composition of maize grown under saline soil conditions. The experiment was designed as completely randomized block design with three replicates. Each replicate contained the following treatments: seaweed extracts (0, 1, 2, and 3 ml/l), proline acid (0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 g/l), dry yeast (0, 20, 40, and 60 g/l), humic acid (0, 1, 2, and 3 g/l) and compost tea (0, 5, 10, and 15 ml /l). The results indicated that, the compost tea at the concentration of 15 ml/l, gave the highest mean values of grain yield (5.59 t/fed), harvest index, the nutrients ( N, P, K) and protein contents in grains. Also, the results revealed that the plant treated with humic acid, particularly, at 3 g/l was more superior for yielding (13.03 t/ fed) grains in addition to ( 7.93 t/fed) straw. Documented data on proline proved that the maximum, straw yield (7.93 t/fed) was achieved at the application rate of 0.3 g/l. In the same time, the Na concentration decreased in the grains with increasing the concentration of each bio stimulant. In contrast of the highest level of proline application, minimum Na content in the grain yield was realized. The N, P, K and Na status of soil did not appear any significant variations among the different applied levels of the stimulatory sources.