Response of Spring Maize to Different Sowing Schedules and Phosphorous Application

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Farm, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University in 2023 to assess the performance of maize (Zea mays L.) under varying sowing schedules along with levels of phosphorus application. The experimental site featured sandy loam soil with pH of 7.34, 0.32% organic carbon content, and an electrical conductivity (EC) 0.423 ds m-1. An experiment comprised different phosphorus levels, including recommended diammonium phosphate (DAP), recommended single superphosphate (SSP), 10% increase in DAP, or 10% increase in SSP applied at three sowing dates. It followed a randomized block design with twelve treatments and three replications. The results indicated that the timing of sowings had a significant impact on all yield attributes, such as cob length (cm), number of rows/cob, number of cobs/m2 area, grains/cob, grain yield (q/ha), biological yield (kg/ha), and harvest index (%). However, levels of phosphorus application did not exhibit a significant effect on growth and yield attributes. The best results, including taller plants (213.8 cm), a higher number of cobs per m2 area (14), increased number of rows/cob (16), grains per cob (334.7), grain yield (45.2 q/ha), biological yield (97.8 q/ha), and harvest index (53.2 %), were achieved by sowing maize crop at the optimum sowing date (D2).