Enhancing Maize Productivity and Nitrogen Uptake through Integrated Application of Biogas Slurry and Chemical Fertilizers

Abstract

With growing population exponentially, food demand also grows rapidly, leading to excessive dependence on chemical fertilizers to ensure food and nutritional security. But presently, serious issues related to long-term soil health, environmental sustainability, and fertilizer-use efficiency arise due to such a non-sustainable strategy. Combination of inorganic fertilizers with organic waste amendment, such as biogas slurry (BS), may present an economically viable strategy to reduce chemical inputs at the cost of no loss of yield. A field experiment was conducted on maize (Zea mays L., var. Pusa Jawahar) to ascertain the impact of biogas slurry (BS), which is a partial substitute for Urea-N, on growth and physiological parameters. T0 Absolute Control, T1: 100% Bio slurry (replacement of Urea-N) + P & K, T2: 75% BS + 25% RDF (recommended dose of fertilizers), T3: 50% BS + 50% RDF, T4: 25% BS + 75% RDF, T5: 100% RDF, T6-25% BS + 75% RDF + microbial consortium, and T7: 25% BS + 75% RDF + chelating agents were the eight treatments used. It was concluded in the study that the treatment T3 which incorporated 50% BS + 50% RDF mix, improved plant height, biomass growth and grain yield in comparison to the other treatments. Further, it is also being found that the T3 treatment not only improves physiological and yield parameters but also increases nutrient utilization efficiency and soil health.