Silicon Efficiency in Different zea maise Cultivars in a Calcareous Soil

Element efficiency is one of the most important characteristics of different plant cultivars for managing nutrition and fertilizer application in plants. This study was carried out to investigate the efficiency of silicon in different maize cultivars in a calcareous soil under greenhouse conditions. Treatments included five maize cultivars (single crosses 400 (ksc400), 410 (ksc410), 704 (ksc704), 705 (ksc705), 706 (ksc706)) and two silicon levels (0 and 100 mg silicon in 1 kg soil from potassium silicate source), which was performed in a factorial arrangement based on a completely randomized design. After eight weeks of vegetative period, plants harvested and factors such as shoot and root dry weight, leaf area, root volume and surface area and plant silicon uptake were measured. Efficiency element indices including adsorption and consumption efficiency of silicon and silicon efficiency of different cultivars were calculated. Among cultivars, ksc706 with 14.54 g yield, root weight of 6.7 g, leaf area of 173700 mm2 and root area of 185185 mm2 had the best results in terms of morphological characteristics and ksc410 cultivar with yield of 10.03 g, root weight of 5.25 g, leaf area of ​​2147900 mm2 and root area of ​​136284 mm2 showed the lowest desirable characteristics, compared to the control treatment. Yield increase of cultivars compared to the control treatment were: ksc400 (20.7%), ksc706 (17.8%), ksc410 (9.2%), ksc704 (8.9%) and ksc705 (4.8%). The highest silicon uptake efficiency was in ksc706 cultivar (85.7%) and the lowest in ksc704 (58.9%), and the highest silicon consumption efficiency was in ksc705 (12.52%) and the lowest in ksc400 (5.44%). With regard of increasing the area of root system in the treatment containing silicon compared to the control, and the effects of silicon on the uptake and transfer of more nutrients from the soil to the shoots, an increase in plant yield is evident. Accordingly, it is suggested to consider the development of planting the effective element plants with the aim of managing input consumption, soil fertility and sustainable agricultural goals.