Optimizing the doses of Moringa (Moringa oliefera L.) leaf extract for salt tolerance in maize
2017
Ali, A. | Abbas, M.N. | Maqbool, M.M. | Arshad, M.I. | Jan, M. | Qayyum, A. | Lee, D.J.
Salinity is a major agricultural problem that adversely affects maize yield. Maize is a major fodder crop which necessitates the improvement of its vegetative performance under salt stress using different doses of moringa leaf extract (MLE). With the objective to tolerate the salt stress, 5 levels of moringa leaf extract concentrations [control, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%] were foliarly sprayed on maize seedlings raised in saline (70 mM NaCl) and non-saline (0 mM NaCl) hydroponic Hoagland solutions. Plants were harvested 4 wk after applying salt stress and foliage spray of leaf extract. The following morphological characters (shoot length, root length, shoot fresh weight, root fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, shoot root ratio) and biochemical parameters (sodium and potassium contents) were evaluated. The experiment was laid out in ARD in factorial arrangement with 5 replicates. The data collected was subject to statistical analysis at 1% probability level and DMR was used to separate the significant treatment means. The results showed that moringa leaf extract improved the shoot and root growth significantly. Moringa leaf extract proved to be helpful in reducing Na and increasing the K content of the leaf. The salinity tolerance of maize was improved as concentration of moringa leaf extracts was increased up to 15%, but higher concentration (20%) proved to be toxic for maize seeding.
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