Potential Use of Sunn Hemp as Green Manure and of Biostimulant for Enhancement of Animal Feed Corn Crop and Fertilized Soil Properties

Abstract

Sunn hemp and biostimulants have been used for animal feed corn production in large fields. The sunn hemp crop is grown initially on rotation and the biostimulant is applied to the sunn hemp and corn plantation. In the current study, the field was divided into 4 experimental designs (No. 1–No. 4) with 5 data collection periods. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil in each test plot were determined. The results showed that the soil with the highest organic matter was in field No.1 (1.23%) during corn growing and in field No. 2 (1.34%) during corn growing with biostimulant application at corn age 3 weeks. In addition, the soil in field No.2 had the highest total N (0.62 g.kg-1) and the highest bacterial colonization (1.27´107 CFU). The seed germination test showed that the biostimulant significantly increased the root length (from 1.6 to 9.1cm) and shoot length (from 2.9 to 5.2cm) of the corn seed after soaking for 17 h compared to the unsoaked seed. Corn physiology in fields No.1 and 2 had the significantly highest corn ear insertion height (71.6–73.9cm) compared to that in field No. 4 (51.1cm). In conclusion, sunn hemp performed well as a green manure and a source of organic matter. Furthermore, the biostimulant effectively increased the fertility of the soil by increasing total N and the corn ear insertion height during corn production. The cost-effectiveness was discussed of using sunn hemp with a biostimulant to improve the corn yield.