Effects of Microbial Fertilizer Application on Growth and Yield of Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata)

Inorganic chemical fertilizers provided essential elements in plant growth and development increases yield and quality of plants, but their unconscious and extreme usage may cause a serious threat to human health and environment. today some eco-friendly agricultural approaches includes free or symbiotic bacteria, endo- and ectomycorrhizal fungi and many other useful microscopic organisms in the root zone led to improve nutrient uptake, plant growth and plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress. this research was conducted in order to investigate effects of four different dose applications (0, 2, 4, 8 ml kg^-1 seed) of commercial microbial fertilizer containing endomycorrhiza, trichoderma spp, bacillus subtilis and bacillus megaterium on growth and yield of sweet corn (zea mays l. var. saccharata). the percentage of seed emergence, plant height, plant diameter, ear number per plant, average ear weight with and without husked, ear yield, ear length, ear diameter, number of kernels per row, number of kernels on row and total soluble solid (tsçkm) were determined. the results showed that plant growth, ear weight with and without husked and yield were increased by application of increasing doses of microbial fertilizer. 4 ml kg^-1 seed and 8 ml kg^-1 seed doses gave close results in many measured parameters and because of less and economic usage, 4 ml/kg seed dose were determined as advising dose.