Germination and Early Development of Corn Seeds under the Influence of Plant Growth Regulator

Abstract

The corn crop has been cultivated throughout the country, with increasing productivity with the help of technology products. There are greater demand and greater use of improved seeds, associated with treatments of fungicides, insecticides, and bioregulators. It is believed that the use of biostimulant can improve many plant characteristics, one of which is productivity. The present work had as objective to evaluate the effect of the use of biostimulant applied in the treatment of seeds on the germinability and initial development of corn plants. The biostimulants used in the experiment were the Haf-Plus® from the Inesta group, which is an organomineral stimulant and  Stimulate® from Stoller do Brazil which is a hormonal bio stimulant. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 2 x 4 factorial scheme, with two biostimulants (Stimulate® and Haf Plus®) in 4 doses (Stimulate: control, 0.5 mL of Stimulate + 1 mL of water, 1.0 mL of Stimulate + 0.5 mL of water, 1.5 mL of Stimulate, and for Haf Plus: control, 0.125 mL + 0.375 mL of distilled water, 0.25 mL of Haf Plus + 0.25 mL of water and 0.5 mL of Haf Plus), with 4 replicates of 10 seeds each. The Stimulate biostimulant was efficient to promote a significant increase of the entire root system and the volume of aerial part of the corn plants. With this, its use can increase the productivity because it makes the young plants more vigorous.