Silicon Improves Maize Photosynthesis in Saline-Alkaline Soils

Table 2

Effects of Si application on net photosynthetic rate () in leaves of maize.

Growth stages	Photosynthetic rate () (mo1⋅m^−2⋅s^−1)
	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5
Big trumpet stage	19.15 ± 0.25^c	18.86 ± 0.69^c	23.02 ± 0.73^b	24.83 ± 0.75^a	24.95 ± 0.42^a
Silking stage	33.62 ± 0.86^c	34.11 ± 0.62^c	37.86 ± 0.75^b	39.30 ± 0.55^a	39.52 ± 0.39^a
Grain filling stage	24.11 ± 0.33^c	23.93 ± 0.50^c	26.10 ± 0.28^b	28.35 ± 0.37^a	28.67 ± 0.47^a
Milk stage	12.70 ± 0.59^c	12.91 ± 0.36^c	14.32 ± 0.53^b	16.85 ± 0.40^a	16.89 ± 0.33^a

Means (±SD) labeled with different letters within each column are significantly different () by Duncan’s test, .