Economic Factors and Different Growth Phases of Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. Var. Saccharata) in the South Gujarat Area, India as affected by Intra-Row Spacing and Potassium Levels

Abstract

To determine how intra-row spacing and potassium levels affected sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. Saccharata), a field experiment was conducted in Junagadh (Gujarat) during the Rabi season of 2016–17. Four levels of intra-row spacing (5, 10, 15 and 20 cm) and four potassium levels (0, 20, 40, and 60 kg K2O/ha) were combined into sixteen different treatment combinations. Three replications of a factorial randomized block design were used to set up the experiment. Based on the data of growth attributes significant and maximum recorded dry matter accumulation (102.46 and 144.54 g plant-1 ) at 60 DAS and harvest, absolute growth rate (3.07 and 1.41 g day-1) at 45-60 DAS and 60 DAS-harvest, crop growth rate (0.00275 and 0.00126 g m-2day-1) at 45-60 DAS and 60 DAS-harvest under the treatment intra-row spacing (20 cm), respectively. According to data on growth attributes, the treatment (K4) 60 K2O + 120 N2O + 60 P2O5 kg/ha resulted in significant and maximum dry matter accumulation (96.93 and 142.00 g plant-1) at 60 DAS and harvest, absolute growth rate (3.03 and 1.39 g day-1) at 45-60 DAS and 60 DAS-harvest, and crop growth rate (0.00272 and 0.00124 g m-2day-1) respectively. Economic analysis showed that higher net returns and B: C ratio from sweet corn (Sweet-16) can be secured by sowing the crop at 20 cm intra-row spacing + application of 60 kg K2O/ha.