Mineral nutrient content of sweet corn under deficit irrigation

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of deficit irrigation (I) (I 100: full irrigation; I 85 : 15% deficit; I 70 : 30% deficit; I 55 : 45% deficit and I 40 : 60% deficit) on mineral nutrient contents of fresh sweet corn (Zea mays saccharata) grain in two vegetation seasons, years of 2011 and 2012, in Isparta ecological conditions. The experiment was set up according to the Randomized Complete-Block Design with three replicates. The species of Lumina F 1 was used as the sweet corn cultivar. The results revealed statistically significant effects of water deficit on mineral nutrient contents of fresh sweet corn grain. The highest nitrogen content (2.29% in 2011 and 2.32% in 2012), the highest phosphorus content (0.332% in 2011 and 0.331% in 2012), the highest potassium content (0.855% in 2011 and 0.837% in 2012), the highest calcium content (0.031% in 2011 and 0.029% in 2012), the highest magnesium content (0.123% in 2011 and 0.132% in 2012), the highest iron amount (27.27 mg kg-1 in 2011 and 26.12 mg kg-1 in 2012), the highest copper amount (3.99 mg kg-1 in 2011 and 4.12 mg kg-1 in 2012) and the highest manganese amount (10.92 mg kg-1 in 2011 and 11.68 mg kg-1 in 2012) were obtained from the "I 70 " irrigation level. The highest zinc amount (34.77 mg kg-1 in 2011 and 30.14 mg kg-1 in 2012) and the highest boron amount (5.389 mg kg-1 in 2011 and 5.306 mg kg-1 in 2012) were determined in I 85 and I 40 irrigation levels, respectively. Generally, the mineral nutrient contents were increased with water deficit up to a certain level "I 70 " and he lower irrigation levels (I 55 and I 40) than "I 70 " resulted in decreased mineral nutrient contents, except for B, of sweet corn in both years.