The Effect of Irrigation with Magnetized Saline Water on Yield and Yield Components of Maize

Due to the increase in population, food needs, and decreasing fertile agricultural lands without salinity problems, the requirement for irrigation with good quality water will become more valuable every day. In many developing countries, population growth, climate change, lack of land, and improper management of water and soil have caused a decrease in soil fertility and, as a result, limited supply of essential plant nutrients. Considering that Iran is located in the region with hot and dry weather conditions and there are not enough sources of water with good quality in the country and also the soils are mostly salty and calcareous, it is obvious that solutions should be considered to improve the quality of water. Considering the limited water for planting crops, using unconventional waters like salt water, is one of the most suitable ways to increase productivity from agricultural land. One of the methods is the use of magnetic water technology. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of using magnetized saline water on the yield and yield components of maize (SC 704) plants by using a drip irrigation system.

The experiment was conducted as a factorial in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications in the crop year 2021-2022 in Babolsar City with the coordinates of 59 degrees and 39 minutes of latitude (oN) and 36 degrees and 43 minutes of longitude (oE) at an altitude of -21 meters above the surface of the open seas. According to long-term data and based on Dumarten's climate classification, the region has a humid climate. According to long-term statistical data of 30 years, the average annual rainfall of the region is 891 mm and the average annual air temperature is 17.5 degrees Celsius. Irrigation water salinity treatments included 0.6 (S1), 3 (S2), and 6 dS/m (S3) under conditions of application of magnetic field (I1) and without magnetic field (I2). Magnetization of irrigation water was created by passing water through a permanent magnet with a magnetic field intensity of 0.3 Tesla. The working method was that in magnetized water treatments, the device for creating a magnetic field was installed on the pipeline and the water that was considered for irrigation of these treatments passed through this conduit. Irrigation frequency of 3 days and considering the efficiency of 90%, the irrigation demand was determined. Irrigation amounts in each treatment were applied by volume meter. At the end of the experiment period, the characteristics of fresh and dry weight of the plant, number of seeds, weight of 1000 seeds, biological yield and seed yield per lysimeter were measured. SAS software was used for the statistical analysis of the data and comparison of means was done by Duncan's test method.

Salinity stress is one of the factors limiting the vegetative and reproductive growth of most plants and it is a factor that affects the metabolism and morphology of the plant. Due to the lack of quality water suitable for use in the agricultural sector, it is necessary to use non-conventional water. In this research, irrigation with different salinities under the effect of magnetic field on maize yield and yield components was investigated. The results showed that the effect of irrigation type and water salinity on plant wet weight, plant dry weight, number of seeds per cob, 1000 seed weight, biological yield, and grain yield were significant. The comparison results of the average of water salinity treatments showed that there was a significant difference between all the salinity treatments of 0.6, 3 and 6 deci-Siemens/m. Increasing water salinity decreased biomass weight and green cover in maize plants. On average, irrigation with magnetized saline water caused increase of 16.3% in plant wet weight, 21.2% in plant dry weight, 17.2% in number of seeds per cob, 12.9% in 1000 seed weight,13.73% in grain yield and 22.13% increase in the biological yield of maize compared to non-magnetic water. Also, the maize yield components decreased with increasing water salinity. In general, it can be concluded that magnetic water technology can be used to improve plant performance. It is suggested to use magnetic water technology to control salinity in the lands where non-conventional water is continuously used for irrigation, according to the type of plant and the tolerance threshold of the plant to salinity.