Effect of manure on tolerance of maize cultivars to drought stress in Iranshahr climate condition

To investigate the reaction of maize under drought stress to the application of manure, an experiment was conducted as split split plot based on randomized complete block design in Iranshahr, Iran. Drought stress included irrigation cut-off in two flowering and seed filling stages. Maize genotypes consisted of SC704, SC540, and SC647, and Maxima cv. and sheep and poultry were applied with the amounts of 10 and 5 t/ha. Plant height, number of seeds per row, ear diameter, 1000 grain weight, and seed yield were measured at physiological harvesting time. Tolerance indices including Stress Susceptibility Index (SSI), Tolerance Index (TOL), Stress Tolerance Index (STI) , Geometric mean productivity (GMP), , and Mean Productivity Index (MPI) were measured . Irrigation cuttings had a meaningful declining effect on all studied traits in all four cultivars especially in flowering stage. SC704 hybrid showed the highest drought tolerance to Iranshahr weather conditions.Compared to sheep manure, application of poultry manure increased yield and yield components of maize cultivar 704 in drought stress in flowering stage. SSI, STI, STI, GMP, TOL, and MPI introduced the SC704 maize hybrid as stress tolerance indices.Therefore, the use of poultry manure is recommended to achieve optimal yield in maize SC704 under drought stress conditions.