EFFECT OF GRADED LEVELS OF UREA FERTILIZER ON GROWTH AND BIOMASS YIELD OF MAIZE UNDER LOW-COST HYDROPONIC FODDER PRODUCTION SYSTEM
P. ARUNA, M. KALYANA CHAKRAVARTHI*, A. KRISHNA MURTHI, R. LAVANYA, S. SIVA JYOTHI AND I. A. SHANTHA LATHA
Livestock Farm Complex
College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur- 516 360
Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University,
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), India
*(e-mail : vetkalyan@gmail.com)
(Received : 26 December 2017; Accepted : 5 March 2018)
SUMMARY
An experiment was conducted at the livestock farm complex, College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur to study the effect of urea fertilizer on growth and biomass yield of maize fodder under low cost hydroponic production unit. The five treatments composed of T1 (control), T2 (0.5 % urea), T3 (1.0% urea), T4 (1.5% urea) and T5 (2.0% urea) groups. Urea solutions at different levels in the corresponding treatment groups was sprinkled daily ones for a total period of 8 days and attributes of plant height, root length, leaf area and biomass yield were recorded daily. Among the different treatments T2 group proven to be greater for plant height, leaf area, root length and biomass yield of hydroponic maize. The lowest values were noticed in the T5 group.
Key words: Maize, urea, growth, biomass yield, hydroponic production system