Agronomic characteristics and management of diseases in maize with chelate-based products containing calcium, copper, manganese, and zinc

Abstract

The aim of this work was to verify the potential of chelate-based products containing calcium, copper, manganese, and zinc for the management of Pantoea ananatis, Puccinia polysora, Cercospora zeae-maydis, Exserohilum turcicum, Diplodia macrospora, and Pseudomonas avenae in crop maize growth in the summer season, as well as their influence on agronomic characteristics. The treatments included commercial chelate-based products of amino acids with the elements calcium (15%), copper (5%), manganese (15%), and zinc (10%) at doses of 0.5 kg ha-1, 0.3 L ha-1, 0.4 kg ha-1, and 1 L ha-1, respectively; fungicides (20% azoxystrobin and 8% cyproconazole at a dose of 0.3 L ha-1 + 25% propiconazole at a dose of 0.4 L ha-1); and water. The tests were carried out under field conditions for two consecutive years with two simple hybrids. The plant height, stem diameter, number of rows per ear, number of grains per ear row, productivity and mass of one thousand grains, as well as the severity of leaf diseases, were all evaluated, and chemical analysis of the leaves was performed. In the 2016/2017 growth season, for the number of rows per ear and number of grains per row, the fungicide treatment showed the highest values, whereas for the mass of one thousand grains and productivity, the chelate treatments did not differ from the fungicide treatment and were different from the water treatment. In the 2017/2018 growth season, for the mass of one thousand grains and yield, only the fungicide treatment was different from the water treatment. For all the chelates studied for both hybrids, there was no difference in nutrient content before and after foliar application. It can be concluded that calcium, copper, manganese, and zinc products may influence agronomic traits but not the severity of the diseases evaluated in these two hybrids of maize under the edaphoclimatic conditions in which the study was carried out.