SATPAL*, N. KHAROR, B. L. SHARMA1, SARITA DEVI, K. K. BHARDWAJ AND NEELAM
Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding (Forage Section), Department of Botany & Plant Physiology,
Department of Soil Science, 4Department of Agronomy
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : berkesia.neelam@gmail.com)
(Received : 8 December 2022; Accepted : 26 December 2022)
SUMMARY
A field experiment was conducted to assess the impact of four graded levels of nitrogen (40, 80, 120 and 160 kg/ha) on yield, quality and economics of four fodder maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes (J-1006, African Tall, COHM-8 and PFM-12) at Hisar (Haryana), India during kharif (rainy) season of 2021 using factorial RBD design with three replications. Results revealed that check entry ‘J-1006’ and test entry ‘PFM-12’ with identical green and dry fodder yields i.e. 397.68 and 106.49 t/ha (mean) have excelled other two checks African Tall and COHM-8 by 8 & 14 and 11 & 11 per cent, respectively and are promising from crude protein, digestible dry matter yield and net income wise also. Check cultivar “African Tall’ that fared good for fodder yield but better from quality point of view; however, was most efficient from dry fodder yields/ kg N-P-K uptake. High fodder producing genotypes (J-
1006 and PFM-12) are more depletive of soil nutrients. Among N levels, significant improvement was seen in leaf to stem ratio values from 40 kg N to 80 kg N and further 80 kg N to 120 kg N/ha but no significant increase was observed from 120 to 160 kg N/ha. It is concluded that fodder maize genotypes J-1006 and PFM-12 are promising and application of 120 kg N/ha was recommended for higher fodder yield, quality and income.
Key words: Fodder maize, genotypes, nitrogen levels, fodder yield, crude protein and IVDMD