Influence of Seed Cake as Organic Fertilizer on Growth, Dry Matter Production and Root Development of Two Cultivars of C4 Plant, Maize (Zea mays) under Lab Conditions

Abstract

A pot culture experiment was conducted with the C4 plant (Zea mays) in the lab during the period of vegetative growth to evaluate the influence of organic fertilizer in the form of mustard oil seed cake on growth, biomass yield and root development of two maize cultivars, hybrid yellow and hybrid purple. The seed cake fertilizer treatments imposed in the experiment were control (T0), others at 2.6%, 3.5% and 4.4% of soil weight respectively against T1, T2 and T3 treatment. The results indicated moderately elevated seed cake application showed considerable improvement in vegetative growth and the plant biomass components including height and other morphological parameters as leaf numbers, length of leaves, number of node and internodal distance per plant, root yield, fresh weight and dry matter production including the root to shoot ratio of the plants, in both the cultivars and in most of the cases found highest in hybrid yellow compared to hybrid purple. Among the plant components, shoot, root dry weight and root to shoot ratio had the greatest decrease under fertilizer deficiency at control (T0) treatment. Among the different  doses of seed cake applications, the highest values recorded at moderate treatments for  most of the parameters, both at vegetative growth and post harvesting after three months of experiment. The result shows that morphological parameters, biomass yield and its components of the plant were maximum when fertilized with seed cake at 2.6 % and 3.5% of soil weight in treatments T1 and T2, found to be the perfect doses of fertilizer for the maize vegetative growth and biomass yield compared to T0 and other treatments. So, based on the result it can be concluded that T1 and T2 treatment is the best fertilizer treatment for the hybrid yellow maize yield.