Paper Details

Abstract

Heat stress is a threat to maize growth, development, and productivity. The application of compost extract and vermiwash has been proven to be an efficient approach to combat the heat-induced growth and developmental limitation of maize crop and to promote sustainable crop production. Maize is a significant cereal crop and its yield is significantly reduced due to heat stress. Thermotolerance in the maize crop can be improved by the application of exogenously applied compost extract and vermiwash. With the objective to cope with heat stress, a wire-house experiment was performed where two maize hybrids, viz., YH-5507 and DK-6724 (heat-tolerant and -sensitive hybrids, respectively) were grown in pots under heat stress and control conditions. Five exogenously applied organic amendments levels C0 (control, no amendment), CE1 (8% compost extract), CE2 (10% compost extract), VW1 (6% vermiwash) and VW2 (8% vermiwash), were used in soil-filled pots under heat stress and control conditions. The data depicted that compared with control condition, heat stress recorded a significant reduction in morphological, physiological, biochemical and nutritional attributes. Nonetheless, it was observed that exogenously applied compost extract and vermiwash, particularly VW1 and CE2 followed by VW2 ameliorated the negative effects of heat stress. Under heat stress condition, a significant and positive influence on all attributes was recorded for VW1 treatment, which increased nitrate by 22.54%, phosphate by 32.60%, sulphate by 81.45%, SOD by 35.41%, POD by 49.41% and CAT by 36.19%, on average of two maize hybrids, compared to control condition. Among hybrids, YH-5507 showed comparatively more resistance against heat stress. The findings of this work revealed that heat stress drastically decreased the growth and productivity of maize; however, exogenously applied compost extract and vermiwash positively influenced the performance of maize hybrids

To Cite This Article