The influence of Acuastoc on soil moisture and some morphophysiological properties in maize crop

Abstract

In this paper, I studied the influence of Acuastoc on soil moisture and some morpho-physiological properties (average plant height and leaf chlorophyll content) was studied in maize cultures. Acuastoc consists of 20% hydrogel (Aquasorb) and 80% zeolite. Aquasorb is a copolymer of aclimamide and potassium acrylate, which plays a role in water retention during wet periods, as well as in water release during drought periods. Zeolite (also known as "boiling rock" or "wonder rock") was discovered by the Swedish mineralogist Baron Axel Fredrik Cronstedt in 1756, by heating mineral stilbite with a blowing flame. This has a high cationic exchange and water retention capacity. The use of Acuastoc in the agricultural sector, in the context of global climate change, can be an optimal solution to reduce the negative effects caused by the uneven distribution of rainfall over the entire vegetation period. The study was carried out in vegetation vessels, and the work variants were as follows: Variant V1 (control) without treatment, V2, treated with 100 kg ha-1 of Acuastoc, V3 without treatment, but subject to periods of water stress, and V4 treated with 100 kg ha-1 Acuastoc and subject to periods of water stress. Water stress was induced to plants after sunrise, from the 4-6 leaf stage, by reducing the number of waterings by half compared to Variants V1 and V2. The soil in the vegetation vessels was characterized by a pH of 6.29, a humus content of 2.9%, a total N of 0.11%, a P AL of 29.5 mg kg-1 , and a K AL of 183 mg kg-1 . The results revealed a significant influence of Acuastoc on the analyzed parameters especially in water stress conditions.