Abstract
Purpose: Drought will be one of the most important questions in the future. The easiest and natural way to drought recovery is to popularize the use of materials that will increase the water holding capacity of soils. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of hazelnut husk applying in water stress conditions on stomatal traits and the growth of maize.
Materials and Methods: A greenhouse experiment was conducted in a randomized plot design using three factors:hazelnut husk doses (30-60-80 t ha-1) and three water stress levels (at 75%, 50% and 25% of field capacity); and two different soil texture (clay loam and sandy loam) with three replications.
Results: Root fresh weight, total biomass and root:shoot ratio increased by 73%, 51% and 39% respectively when plants grown in clay loam soil are compared with sandy loam soil. Hazelnut husk applications affected both plant growth and stomatal traits, the most effective dose was 80 t ha-1 but the dose of 60 t ha-1 was found sufficient for the stomatal traits. Water stress caused a significant decrease in shoot growth (16-52%), leaf area (13-44%) and stomatal traits whereas irrigation at 50% of field capacity with 60 t ha-1 of the husk was found sufficient.
Conclusion: It is thought that other morphological features are also not affected because hazelnut husk prevents the roots from being affected by stress. However, further studies are needed to determine the effects under field conditions.
Supporting Institution
Ordu Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırmalar Birimi