Agro-morphological Differential Expression between Maize and Soybean Crops under Rhizobacteria and/or Foliar Fertilizer Treatments

<ns5:p> Background The differential response of maize and soybean to plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and foliar fertilizers remains insufficiently characterized in arid tropical soils. In this study, we investigated the agro-morphological responses of maize ( <ns5:italic>Zea mays</ns5:italic> L.) and soybean ( <ns5:italic>Glycine max</ns5:italic> L.) to rhizobacteria ( <ns5:italic>Pseudomonas fluorescens</ns5:italic> and <ns5:italic>Bradyrhizobium</ns5:italic> sp.) and foliar fertilizer treatments under arid soil conditions. Methods Statistical comparative analysis between the two crops have been performed basin on the growth parameters assessed including stem diameter, plant height, leaf number, and leaves length across four treatments: untreated control (T0), rhizobacteria alone (T1), rhizobacteria plus foliar fertilizer (T2), and foliar fertilizer alone (T3). Results As expected, comparative analyses revealed, regardless applied treatment, significant initial differences, between maize and soybeans for all growth parameters, because of physiological and genetic differences of those crops. Specifically, maize and soybeans exhibited greater growth dynamism in (i) diameter and height, and as well (ii) in number of leaves, respectively. The same analysis revealed no significant agro-morphological difference regarding growth dynamism for soybean and maize leaves length feature. Differential treatment effects highlighted that T1 and T2 treatments substantially enhanced maize diameter and height relative to T0, whereas soybean responded more strongly to leaves number dynamism improvement under T3 treatment under T3 treatment. Fisher’s exact tests supported these trends, indicating variable but treatment-dependent differential expression patterns between crops. Overall, rhizobacteria-based treatments (T1 and T2) predominantly improved maize growth, whereas foliar fertilization (T3) had a greater influence on soybean leaves development. Conclusion These results highlight a distinct species-specific responsiveness, with maize being more sensitive to microbial stimulation and soybean benefiting primarily from foliar nutrient input. These findings support the development of crop-specific biofertilization strategies tailored to nutrient-poor arid soils in Northern Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). </ns5:p>