Response of Fertilizers and Organic Manures on Soil Properties and Productivity of Maize (Zea mays L.)
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Date
2023
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MPUAT, Udaipur
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Response of Fertilizers and Organic Manures on Soil
Properties and Productivity of Maize (Zea mays L.)” was conducted on clay loam soils at
Instructional Farm of, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur during Kharif 2023. The
experiment consisted of 16 treatment combinations comprises of four fertility levels (control,
50% RDF, 75% RDF and 100% RDF) in main plots and four levels of organics (control,
biochar @ 4 t ha-1, FYM @ 5 t ha-1 and biochar @ 4 t ha-1 + FYM @ 5t ha-1 in sub plots. These
16 combinations were evaluated under Split Plot Design (SPD) with three replications during
the Kharif season of 2023 where the impact of different fertility levels and organic manures
application on soil properties and productivity of Maize (Zea mays L.)” were studied.
The study revealed that among the different fertility levels 100% RDF significantly
gave the maximum plant height, number of cobs plant-1, number of grains cob-1 and seed index.
The research showed that the 100 % RDF also had a higher impact on the seed, stover and
biological yield and also resulted in the higher nutrient content and uptake, highlighting its
potential in supplying nutrients to maize crop. Soil properties, including organic carbon,
available nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, were significantly increased by the application
100 % RDF over control, 50% RDF and 75% RDF. Among the different fertility levels higher
net returns (₹ 101583 ha-1) and B-C ratio (2.0) were also recorded under 100% RDF.
Results further revealed that among the different organic levels the combined
application of biochar @ 4 t ha-1 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 significantly increased the plant height and
yield attributes (number of cobs plant-1, number of grains cob-1 and seed index) along with the
maximum increase in seed, stover, biological yield, nutrient content and uptake of maize. The
combined application of biochar @ 4 t ha-1 + FYM @ 5t ha-1 demonstrated the positive impact
on the soil parameters including organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorous and
potassium. However, FYM @ 5 t ha-1 resulted in higher net returns (₹ 73472 ha-1) and B-C
ratio (2.91) among the different organic levels.
Results also showed that there was significant interaction between 100% RDF and
combined application of biochar @ 4 t ha-1 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1. The Combined application of
100% RDF and organic manures via biochar (4 t ha-1) and FYM (5 t
ha-1) showed significant increment in seed yield of maize and this treatment needs to be
explored further for farmer application in Aravali foothills of Udaipur for maximum
productivity of maize
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Kumar S. and Yadav K. K.