RAHUL BANIK, NAVNIT KUMAR, GANGADHAR NANDA, BARSHA MANSINGH AND PRANJEET KALITA
Department of Agronomy, PG College of Agriculture, RPCAU, Pusa-848 125 (Bihar), India
Department of Agronomy, Sugarcane Research Institute, RPCAU, Pusa-848 125 (Bihar), India
*(e-mail: just.rahulbanik@gmail.com)
(Received : 12 August 2023; Accepted : 22 September 2023)
SUMMARY
A field trial was carried out at the forage maize research plot of TCA, Dholi Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, during the Rabi season of 2022-23 to study the performance of different varieties under various nitrogen levels in terms of yield and quality of fodder maize. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with fifteen treatments in three replications. The treatments included three nitrogen levels (150, 180 and 210 kg ha-1) in main- plots and five varieties of maize (NK-7550, NK-7328, NK-7660, J-1006 and Shaktiman-5) in sub-plots. The observations from the experiment revealed that application of 210 kg N ha-1 resulted in the highest green fodder yield (85.0 t/ha), dry fodder yield (20.7 t/ha), which were comparable to those obtained with 180 kg N ha-1. J-1006 surpassed other varieties, producing the highest green fodder yield (89.8 t/ha) and dry fodder yield (21.1 t/ha). The use of 210 kg N ha-1 led to increased levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents and their uptake. Furthermore, the crude protein content (8.61%) and crude protein yield (1.79 t/ha) were also at their peak when 210 kg N ha-1 was applied, showing a significant improvement over the application of 150 and 180 kg N ha-1. J- 1006 showed higher nitrogen content (1.35%), crude protein content (8.46%) and crude protein yield (1.80 t/ha), which was comparable with NK-7660 and Shaktiman-5. Therefore, J-1006 variety with application of 210 kg N ha-1 can be applied for getting maximum green fodder, dry matter and crude protein yield of Rabi forage maize.
Key words: Varieties, nitrogen levels, fodder maize, yield, quality