Effect of foliar application of potassium silicate and sodium silicate on grain yield and yield component of dent corn

The study was carried out in the experimental research area of Faculty of Agriculture, Cukurova University in 2020. When the three dent corn hybrids P-2088 (Pioneer), SY-Gladius (Syngenta) and SY-Fuerza (Syngenta) reaches the sixth leaf (V6) development stage, different doses of two different silicate sources were used viz., Potassium Silicate (PS: 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 mM) and Sodium Silicate (SS: 0, 7, 5, 15, 30, and 37.6 mM). The chemical doses were pulverized to the leaves and applied twice at two-week intervals. The effects of both silicate sources on grain yield and yield components were accessed. The application of Potassium Silicate (PS) was found to have a negative effect on grain yield. However, different varietal responses lead to differences for grain yield in case of sodium silicate (SS) application. The maximum grain yield of 1718 g m-2 was obtained for SY-Gladius (syngenta) variety with application of 15 mM SS dose. While a maximum grain yield of 1606 g m-2 was observed in P-2088 with 75 mM SS dose application. Overall, the grain yield was 7% and 8% higher in them, compared to the control. With the application of potassium silicate, it was observed that the increase in grain yield was only due to the increase in the number of seeds per m2. However, the increase in grain weight was found to be positively affected by the increase in corn cob diameter and grain length. Alternatively, with the application of sodium silicate, it was determined that properties such as grain yield, number of grains per m2, grain weight, corn cob diameter, bare corn cob diameter, grain length and number of seeds per grain row were significantly affected. As a result, we conclude that sodium silicate applications may be important for traits like grain yield. Since the determined effects vary according to varieties, therefore, a dose suitable for one variety may not be suitable for another variety.