GROWTH, YIELD AND ECONOMICS OF FODDER MAIZE (ZEA MAYS) AS INFLUENCED BY PLANT DENSITY AND FERTILITY LEVELS
D.J.SUBRAHMANYA, RAKESH KUMAR*,P.S.PYATI, HARDEV RAM, R.K.MEENA AND AKANKSHA TAMTA
ICAR- National Dairy Research Institute,
Karnal-132001, Haryana (India)
*(e-mail : drdudi_rk@rediffmail.com)
(Received : 29 August 2019; Accepted : 15 September 2019)
SUMMARY
An experiment consisting of four plant density (45, 60, 75 and 90 kg/ha seed rate) and five fertilizer levels (0, 50, 75, 100 and 125 % RDF) was laid out in split plot design to find out the growth and yield of fodder maize (Zea mays L.) under varying plant density and nutrient management. Green fodder yield and dry matter yield was significantly higher in case of 60 kg/ha seed rate (543.32 and 121.03 q/ha, respectively) and 125% RDF application (637 and 140.98 q/ha, respectively). Significantly higher growth parameters viz., plant height (249.62 and 280.92 cm), leaf length (101.60 and 118.10 cm), leaf width (7.46 and 9.11 cm), number of leaves (14.44 and 17.13) etc. with seed rate (60kg/ha) and 125% RDF, respectively at harvest. At higher density beyond seed rate 60 kg/ha improvement in growth and yield was not significant. Nutrient uptake such as nitrogen (89.99 kg/ha) and phosphorus (39.85 kg/ha) significantly higher with 125% RDF application. Soil nitrogen and phosphorus status shown significant effect with respect varied seed rates and with respect to fertility levels, significantly higher soil N and P status were observed in 125% RDF application and 100 % RDF application was on par with it. Economics viz., gross returns (Rs. 86555.4 and 98738.1) and net returns (Rs. 47038.3 and 59453.1) of fodder maize crop with 90 kg/ha seed rate and 125% RDF, respectively were significantly higher when compared to rest of the seed rates and recommended fertilizer levels whereas higher B: C ratio was obtained in case of 60 kg/ha and 125 % RDF.
Key words:Dry matter yield, fodder maize, green fodder yield, plant density and RDF