Productivity and economic indicators of sweet maize silage treated with diazotrophic bacteria and thiamine

Objective. Evaluate the productivity, sweet maize plants characteristics, crude protein and economic indicators of the production of sweet maize silage inoculated with Azospirillum brasilense and thiamine as seed treatment (0; 15; 30; 45 mg kg-1). Material and Methods. Biometric characteristics, productivity, crude protein content were evaluated, and the total operational cost structure was used to determine the economic indexes of a productive cycle. Results. It was observed that treatments with isolated or combined application of A. brasilense and thiamine did not affect the plant height, stem diameter, fresh and dry mass productivity and crude protein contents of sweet maize plants. However, the inoculation with A. brasilense increased in 24.36%, 24.36%, 53.15% and 10.47%, the productivity of fresh matter, gross revenue, operating profit and the profitability index, respectively, compared to the control treatment. Even with different responses, all treatments resulted in positive profitability indices, indicating the appropriate economic return with this activity. Conclusions. It was concluded that A. brasilense and thiamine applied as seed treatment do not significantly affect sweet maize plants development and composition; treatments influenced the economical indexes, and the isolated application of A. brasilense resulted in higher earnings; thiamine isolated application as seed treatment can be used as an alternative for improvement of economical gains.