Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Yield and Yield Attributes of Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. saccharata) Under Wet Temperate Conditions of Western Himalayas (India)

Abstract

A field study was carried out in Experimental Farm of Division of Agronomy, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar, J&K, India during kharif 2011 and 2012 to study the influence of integrated nutrient management on yield and yield attributes of sweet corn var. Super-75. The results revealed that yield contributing characters viz., cob length and diameter with and without husk, number of cobs per plant, rows per cob, grains per row and weight of cob with and without husk were significantly higher with application of 75% (NPK) + Farmyard manure (FYM) (4.5 t ha-1) + biofertilizer (Azotobacter + Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) over unfertilized control and other treatments. This treatment also proved to be significantly superior to rest of the treatments including unfertilized control in increasing cob yield with and without husk, fodder yield and green biomass yield during both years of experimentation. The ratio of cob to fodder yield during 2011 was recorded highest in treatment FYM (18 t ha-1), while during 2012, NPK (90:60:40 kg ha-1) recorded the highest ratio of cob to fodder yield.