Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Growth, Yield and Economics of Hybrid Maize (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out during summer season of 2018 at Instructional Farm, Jaguli, BCKV, West Bengal to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and economics in hybrid maize. The treatments were T1-100% RDF (150:75:75 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O) (control), T2- 75% RDF+ Vermicompost @ 2t/ha, T3-75% RDF+ Yeast Vinasse @ 2t/ha, T4-75% RDF+ Vermicompost @ 2t/ha+ soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg/ha, T5-75% RDF+ Yeast Vinasse @ 2t/ha+ soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg/ha, T6-75% RDF+ Vermicompost @ 2t/ha+ Foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% and T7-75% RDF+ Yeast Vinasse @ 2t/ha+ Foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% replicated thrice in RBD. The result of the experiment revealed that application of vermicompost @ 2 t/ha along with 75% RDF and 0.5% foliar application of ZnSO4 (T6) exhibited maximum plant height (250.97 cm), LAI (4.58), dry matter accumulation (1680.38 g/m2), number of grains/cob (402.64), cob length (22.34 cm), grain yield (9.04 t/ha), stover yield (13.50 t/ha), net return (Rs.77112/ha), BCR (2.33) and uptake of N, P2O5 and K2O (200.54, 66.45 and 119.12 kg/ha respectively) over application of 100% RDF. However, T6 was statistically at par with the T4 and T7, which produced 8.94 and 8.75 t/ha grains respectively. Therefore, the study concluded that integrated application of vermicompost @ 2 t/ha along with 75% RDF and 0.5% foliar application of ZnSO4 can be recommended for better grain yield and higher profit of summer maize.