Sulfur uptake and translocation in maize (Zea mays) grown in a high pH soil treated with elemental sulfur

• Main Authors: Karimizarchi, Mehdi, Soltangheisi, Amin, Husin, Aminuddin, Yusop, Mohd Khanif, Othman, Radziah
• Format: Article
• Published: Taylor and Francis Group 2018
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74012/; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01904167.2018.1462379

A glasshouse experiment was conducted to elucidate the influence of elemental sulfur (S) application rates (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g S kg−1 soil) on the release and uptake of S at 0, 20, and 40 days after incubation. Results showed that there was a progressive upward trend in maize leaves, stem, and root S content with application of elemental S. However, maize production followed a nonlinear model. Plants grown in untreated soils suffer from S deficiency and addition of elemental S at a rate of 0.5 g S kg−1 soil alleviated S deficiency. The decrease in maize performance due to the highest S application rate was not related to S toxicity. The greatest leave, stem, and root productions were obtained at S concentrations of 0.41, 0.58, and 0.2%, respectively. Overall, application of elemental S at a rate of 0.5 g S kg−1 soil is recommended for maize performance improvement.