NUTRIENT CULTURE TECHNIQUES FOR EARLY SELECTION OF FE STRESS TOLERANCE IN MAIZE GROWN ON ACID SULFATE SOIL WITHIN TIDAL SWAMPS

Abstract

Nutrient culture is one of the screening methods used in the seedling stage of maize to select plants that are iron-tolerant to acid-sulfate soil in a tidal swamp land breeding program. This experiment was carried out to confirm the association between parameters seen in nutrient culture tests and the tolerance-adaptability level of maize in acid sulfate soil tidal swamps based on grain production and to estimate the effective threshold dose of Fe stress. The primary factor comprised six levels of Fe stress: 0 mg/L, 100 mg/L, 200 mg/L, 400 mg/L, 600 mg/L, and 800 mg/L. The secondary factor involved 10 maize genotypes, including P27, Mpop\_18-02-1, MPop27-08-1, Sukmaraga, PAC2245-3-1-1-2-8B-B, C\_31-1-B-2, B11-209-3, G\_3013631, G\_102612-1, and Advanta77. The findings from research conducted using 180 experimental units demonstrated that a concentration of 400 mg/L was the optimal choice for selecting maize plants that exhibited tolerance to iron (Fe) stress in a nutrient culture experiment. The extent of leaf bronzing was found to be highly correlated with other observational characteristics, making it a reliable indicator of the tolerance level of maize plants to Fe stress. The nutrient culture method was deemed applicable as a rapid selection technique for maize plants that exhibited tolerance to environmental stress in acid-sulfate soil tidal swamps.