REACTION OF CORN HYBRIDS TO BIOSTIMULATOR APPLICATION

Corn is a cereal crop with undeniable productive potential.Its great adaptability, as well as the presence of hybrids with different durations of the growing season, determine its wide distribution.Ensuring stable yields in a dynamically changing climate is proving to be a major challenge for sustainable agriculture.The current study aims to establish whether treatment with plant stimulators can help the crop to improve corn performance under drought conditions.The experiment was arranged according to the randomized complete block method in three replications and a plot size of 25 m 2 .Three corn hybrids were included in the trial: DKC4949 (FAO 390), P8523 (FAO 260), and P9537 (FAO 390).The plant biostimulator Biostart was applied as a seed treatment and the product Naturamin WSP was applied twice during the vegetation period.The following parameters have been estimated: grain yield (GY); mass of grain per cob (MGC); cob weight (CW); cob length (CL); test weight (TW); 1000 grains weight (TGW) and crude protein (CP).The results showed that treatment with plant stimulants increased productivity in individual hybrids between 5% and 14%, with the highest yields realized by hybrid P8523 after Naturamine WSP application.The least pronounced is the effect of the application of Biostart in a hybrid P9537.