TITLE:
Maize (Zea mays L.) Productivity in Response to Nitrogen Management in Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Hameed Gul, Saeedur Rahman, Ali Shahzad, Shareef Gul, Mengya Qian, Qianlin Xiao, Zhizhai Liu
KEYWORDS:
Maize (Zea mays L.), Nitrogen, Yield, Yield Components, Pakistan
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.12 No.8,
August
4,
2021
ABSTRACT: Nitrogen (N) plays a vital role in the productivity
of maize (Zea mays L). To investigate the fertilizer effects of N on the yield and growth of maize
hybrid variety (Gorilla), the experiment was carried out at the research farm
of University of Swabi, Pakistan, during summer 2017-18. Four levels of N
(Urea, Urea + Farm Yard Manure (FYM), Urea + Compost, Urea + Poultry Manure
(PM)) were set in the present study. Randomized complete block design (RCBD)
was used with split-plot arrangement with N administering to main plot. Results
showed that yield and other traits, i.e. plant height, ear length, ear weight, kernel yield, kernels ear-1 and harvest index (HI) were significantly affected by Nitrogen. In current
study, the maximum performances of plant height (231.46 cm), ear length (12.17
cm), kernels ear-1 (434.83), kernel yield (2095.7 kg·ha-1),
total kernel weight (350.75 kg·ha-1), biomass yield
(4015.3 kg·ha-1) and HI (37.31) were recorded under the
treatment of UREA + PM, and followed by UREA + FYM. Besides, the applications
of organic manure in combination with nitrogen significantly increased yield
and its components. Application of 50% of N and 50% of poultry manure produced
higher performance for the traits of plant height, ear length, kernels ear-1,
total kernels weight ear-1, kernel yield, and biomass yield.