Application of Nejayote as a Foliar and Edaphic Fertiliser to Native Blue Maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) Crops

Abstract

Raw and treated “nejayote” were assessed as foliar and edaphic fertilisers for native blue maize ( Zea mays L.) crops in the municipality of Amozoc de Mota, Puebla, Mexico, during the 2015 agricultural cycle. Treated nejayote refers to raw nejayote subjected to a coagulation-flocculation process. Two states of nejayote were established (raw and treated nejayote) with different physicochemical properties. Foliar bio-fertilisers were prepared from raw and treated nejayote and mixed with organic matter (OM) to promote a fermentation process. The foliar treatments used were: BNC5, BNC15, BNC30 (raw nejayote-based bio-fertiliser at 5%, 15%, and 30%), BNCQ5, and NCQ30 (nejayote treated by chemical coagulation at 5% and 30%), with BT as a control (traditional bio-fertiliser). The edaphic treatments used were: NC50, NC75, and NC100 (raw nejayote at 50%, 75%, 100%), with AP as a control (drinking water), thus giving rise to 10 treatments in terms of content of raw or treated nejayote. Foliar and edaphic field treatments applied to native blue maize crops were statistically assessed using the following response variables: plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, and grain yield. The experiment was laid out in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with five replications of each treatment. The results obtained showed, that foliar or edaphic application at the different stages of development did not produce statistically significant differences, at P ≤ 0.05, in terms of response variables. The most significant effects occurred at the early stage of plant development and were mainly reflected in the stem diameter with foliar treatment NCQ30 and in the number of leaves with foliar treatment BNC5. At the final stage of crop development, the highest yield (0.639 ± 0.121 t·ha -1 ) was obtained with treatment BNC5, which produced a statistically significant difference (b) in relation to the rest of the foliar and edaphic treatments (Tukey P ≤ 0.05).