THE RESPONSE OF SOME GROWTH CHARACTERS FOR TWO VARIETIES OF MAIZE TO SPRAYING WITH VITAMIN B9 AND E, AND THE AMINO ACID ARGININE

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences - University of Baghdad, during the fall seasons of 2021 and 2022 to study the response of some growth traits for two varieties of maize to spraying  vitamin B9 (folic acid), vitamin E (tocopherol), and arginine acid. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) within split plot arrangement with three replicates was used. The experiment included two factors, the first factor in the main plot represented two varieties of maize (Baghdad 3 and Sarah), while the second factor in the sub-plot represented spraying with vitamin E and B9 at concentrations of 1 and 2 g L^-1 and arginine acid at concentrations of 100 and 200 mg L^-1, in addition to the control treatment (without spraying). The results showed that Sarah variety outperformed in most studied traits for both seasons (75% male flowering, plant height, number of effective leaves, leaf area, and green leaf duration). Also spraying vitamin E, with the concentration of 2 g L^-1 gave highest averages in most of the traits, with the highest mean values for plant height (195.92 and 193.66 cm), number of effective leaves (14.56 and 14.56 leaves plant^-1), leaf area (0.7767 and 0.7950 m²), and green leaf duration (100.83 and 103.33 days) for both seasons respectively. The interaction between the two factors was significant in 75% male flowering and green leaf duration.