Master’s Discussion
The College of Science for Women at the University of Baghdad examined a master’s thesis entitled “the use of liquid biofertilizer with reduced doses of chemical fertilizer to improve the yield of maize Zea mays L compared to the locally produced solid biofertilizer.”, presented by the postgraduate student Suad Ibrahim Turki, as a requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Biology – Botany. The study was supervised by Dr. Arwa Abdul Kareem Tawfiq and Dr. Raffal Esmaeil Majeed.
The thesis aimed to study the effect of liquid and solid biofertilizers—composed of various types of bacteria—on the growth and productivity of maize, to determine the most effective method of application (seed mixing or foliar spray), while using reduced concentrations of chemical fertilizers in different combinations with the biofertilizer to minimize dependency on chemical inputs.
The thesis revealed significant results, the most notable being that the use of liquid biofertilizer produced better results than solid biofertilizer. Moreover, applying liquid biofertilizer with reduced doses (25% and 50%) of chemical fertilizer resulted in growth and yield characteristics that were equal to or better than those obtained using solid biofertilizer, and superior to those obtained with 100% chemical fertilizer alone.
The study recommended reducin-*-+ g reliance on chemical fertilizers by combining liquid biofertilizer with lower chemical fertilizer doses, as this approach can achieve similar or even superior results compared to full chemical fertilization—while also reducing environmental pollution and lowering production costs.
Very Good
