Molecular identification and the effect of nanofertilization on growth traits of some maize genotypes

Maize is an important crop. Plant fertilization plays an important role in improving and increasing crop productivity in a sustainable manner. In the fall season of 2023, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different combinations of chemical and nano NPK fertilizers on some growth traits of five adopted genotypes, and to study the genetic variations at the molecular level. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used with split-plot arrangement and three replicates. The main plots included six treatments: five fertilizer combinations plus a control treatment (no fertilization). The sub plots included genotypes (three hybrids: Reserve, Jameson and AGN720 and two synthetic cultivars: Al Maha and Al Fajr). Results showed that a significant effect on almost all of the studied traits was due to fertilization levels, genotypes, and their interaction, as the use of 50% mineral + 50% nanofertilizer led to a significant increase in plant height, stem diameter, number of active leaves, leaf area and crop growth rate, which corded 206.4 cm, 19.18 mm, 12.2 leaf plant-1, 6416 cm2, and 4.651 gm plant-1 day-1, respectively. On the other hand, the values ​​of the control treatment gave the lowest values. The synthetic varieties outperformed in most of the studied traits. The Al-Maha synthetic variety gave the highest stem diameter and leaf area, which recorded 18.94 mm and 6419 cm2, while the Al-Fajr synthetic variety gave the highest plant height and crop growth rate, which reached 211.7 cm and 4.469 gm. plant-1 day-1. It can be concluded that mineral fertilizers can be replaced by nano-fertilizers, but can be considered as a supplement to mineral fertilizers and not a substitute for it.