Effect of Organic and Inorganic Sources of Nutrients on Yield Attributes and Yield of Maize in Aerobic Rice- Zero Till Maize Cropping System Under Sandy Clay Loam Soils in Southern Telangana Agro-Climatic Zone

Abstract

Continuous growing of rice –rice mono-cropping over the years and excessive dependence on chemical fertilizers alone has led to decrease in soil fertility and productivity. Rice–maize double cropping is gaining popularity in many Asian countries including India. fertilizer need of a crop in a system is strongly influenced by the preceding crops and the amount of fertilizers applied to them. Cropping with two nutrient intensive cereals like rice-maize would remove a substantial quantity of plant nutrients from soil during continued agriculture round the year, envisaging the need for adoption of efficient nutrient management practices for sustained soil health and improving system productivity. A field experimentt was carried out to study the residual effect of organic nutrient sources and inorganic fertilizer levels on yield attributes and yield of zero till maize. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four organic sources of nutrients applied to preceding rice as main plots viz: M1: Neem leaf manure @ 6 t ha-1; M2: Vermicompost @ 2 t ha-1; M3: Goat manure @ 5 t ha-1; M4: Microbial consortia [seed treatment @ 4 g kg-1 + soil application @ 4 kg ha-1] and four subplots with graded doses of fertilizers viz: S1: Control; S2: 50% RDF; S3: 75% RDF and S4: 100% RDF (180:60:60). The study revealed that various organic nutrient sources and graded fertilizer doses exerted a remarkable effect on plant height, LAI, dry matter production and Days to 50% silking which resulted in significantly higher grain, stover yield and harvest index of zero till maize.