Development of the southern corn leaf blight caused by Bipolaris maydis (teleomorph: Cochliobolus heterostrophus in sweet corn as a function of nitrogen, potassium, and silicon under greenhouse conditions

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the development of the southern corn leaf blight caused by Bipolaris maydis, a common disease in sweet corn, depending on the dose and the accumulated nitrogen, potassium, and silicon, under greenhouse conditions. The treatments consisted of five doses of nitrogen (0, 200, 400, 800, and 1,200 kg/ha), application or not of potassium (240 kg/ha), and application or not of silicon (380 kg/ha). A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 5 x 2 x 2 and three repetitions was used. All the treatments were inoculated on day 30 with a suspension of 2 x 10(5) conidia by mL of B. maydis. On day 42, the accumulated N, K, and Si were measured, as well as the infection percentage and the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). The treatments that received fertilization with Si and K showed higher accumulation of N, K and Si, and lower levels of disease intensity and AUDPC. The accumulated N, K, and Si exhibited variations compared to the fertilization interactions of K with N, and Si with N; however, the levels of the disease variables were lower in the fertilization with K or Si, combined with the doses of 0, 200 and 400 kg/ha of N.