Evaluation of Interactive Effects of Row Arrangement, Plant Geometry and Mulching on Yield of Early Maturity Maize Hybrid under Traditional Rainfed Conditions

Abstract

Aim: To study the grain yield performance of early maturity maize hybrid under rainfed conditions in relation to row arrangement, plant geometry and mulching. Place of Study: A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural research station, Karimnagar during kharif 2011-12. Methodology: The experiment was carried out in red sandy loam soils, in a split- split plot design with main plots as row arrangement (2) i.) Equal rows at 67cm ii). Paired row at 84: 50cm (Between and within paired rows), Sub plots as plant geometry (3) i.) with 40000 Plants/ha (intra row spacing of 37 cm) ii.) with 50000 Plants /ha (intra spacing of 30cm) iii.) with 60000 Plants/ha (intra row spacing of 25cm) and Sub- sub plots as mulching treatments (2) i.) without mulching ii.) with surface mulch @ 5 t/ha. The results indicated that there is no significant difference in grain yield of early maturity maize hybrid, when the crop is grown in equal row spacing of 67cm (5148 kg/ha) or paired row spacing of 84:50cm (4962 kg/ha). The grain yield of maize crop with 60000 Plants /ha (i.e., 25 cm intra row spacing) recorded higher grain yield of 5339 kg/ha followed by maize crop with 50000 Plant /ha (i.e., 30 cm intra row spacing) with 5097 kg/ha grain yield and 4729 kg/ha with 40000 Plant/ha (i.e., 37 cm intra row spacing). When crop rows were mulched with grass and dried weed material @ 5t/ha significantly increased the maize grain yield (5724 kg/ha) by 23 % than compared to the crop kept without mulch (4386 kg/ha). Consequently, the maize crop with surface mulching resulted in higher net returns (Rs.31770/ha) and benefit cost ratio of 1.7 over no mulching. While, the interaction for all parameters was non significant. Results: It can be concluded that farmers can either follow equal row spacing or paired row spacing based on situation, as there is no significant difference in terms of yield by either method. Mulching of inter row of maize crop under rainfed conditions has resulted in 23% increased yield than that of crop kept without mulch.