Potential of calcium silicate to mitigate water deficiency in maize

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of calcium silicate to mitigate the effects of water deficiency in maize plants yield. A completely randomized factorial design, consisting of five combinations of calcium silicate (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) and five different soil moisture levels (30, 70, 100, 130, and 160%), was adopted. The following parameters were evaluated: soil matric potential, xylem water potential, silicon concentration, leaf dry weight, and dry mass production. Matric potential monitoring confirmed that the irrigation depths employed resulted in different environments for maize plant development during the experiment. Confirming the hypothesis of the study, at the lower irrigation depths, the maize production has accompanied the increase in calcium silicate used as corrective up to the proportion of 50%. These results indicate that silicon mitigated the impact of water deficiency in maize plants and increased the xylem water potential.