INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN SUMMER MAIZE (Zea mays)
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Date
2020-11
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Publisher
AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Integrated nutrient management in summer
maize (Zea mays)” was carried out at Instructional-cum- Research (ICR) Farm, Assam
Agricultural University, Jorhat during the year 2019 to find out the effect of INM
practice to the growth and yield of summer maize and to study the post-harvest nutrient
status of soil as affected by different INM practices. The experiment was laid out in
randomized block design with nine treatments and replicated thrice. The treatments
consisted of both soil and foliar application of fertilizers viz., T1 [60-40-40 kg/ha NPK
(RDF)], T2 [RDF + Azospirillum + PSB], T3 [RDF + Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of
vermiwash at 25 & 40 DAS], T4 [75% N of RDF + 25% of N replaced by
vermicompost], T5 [75% N of RDF + 25%of N replaced by vermicompost +
Azospirillum + PSB], T6 [75% N of RDF + 25% of N replaced by vermicompost +
Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25&40 DAS], T7 [50% N of RDF+
50% of N replaced by vermicompost], T8 [50% N of + 50% of N replaced by
vermicompost + Azospirillum + PSB], T9 [50% N of RDF + 50% of N replaced by
vermicompost + Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25&40 DAS].
The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture, acidic in
reaction, medium in organic carbon (0.72%), low in available N (156.19 kg/ha) and
medium in available P2O5 (23.78 kg/ha), and K2O (161.50 kg/ha). N was applied in two
split doses one at knee high stage and second application was before tasseling. The
maize seeds of the variety VMH-53 was sown on 15th of March (2019) and harvested by
two picking on 10th June and 15th June.
Experimental findings revealed that INM practices influenced both the
growth and yield attributing characters. Application of RDF + Azospirillum + PSB + 2
sprays of vermiwash at 25 & 40 DAS (T3) recorded highest values for all the growth
attributing parameters. Similarly, the yield attributing characters like weight of cob with
and without husk, length of cob, number of rows per cob, grain per row, grain per cob,
weight of grain per cob and nutrient (NPK) uptake was observed to be highest under
RDF + Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25 & 40 DAS (T3) which was at
par with 75% N of RDF+ 25% of N replaced by vermicompost + Azospirillum + PSB
+ 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25&40 DAS. Likewise, the highest grain and stover yield
being 43.04 q/ha and 89.66 q/ha respectively was produced from RDF + Azospirillum +
PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25 & 40 DAS (T3) which was at par with the grain
6
yield 41.81 q/ha and stover yield 87.42 q/ha obtained from 75% N of RDF+ 25% of N
replaced by vermicompost + Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25&40
DAS (T6). However, the protein content in maize and nutrient content in soil after
harvest was found to be non-significant. In terms of economics, the highest gross return
(` 96765), net return (` 77705) and the B:C ratio (4.08) was recorded from the
treatment RDF + Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25 & 40 DAS (T3)and
which was nearly followed by the treatment75% N of RDF + 25% of N replaced by
vermicompost + Azospirillum + PSB + 2 sprays of vermiwash at 25 & 40 DAS (T6).