TITLE:
Biomass, Grain and Nitrogen Harvest Index of Rainfed Corn with Organic and Inorganic Fertilization in a Rhodic Luvisol of Yucatan, Mexico
AUTHORS:
Jorge Humberto Ramírez Silva, José de la Cruz Tun Dzul, Alejandro Cano González, Alejandro Escalente Ávila
KEYWORDS:
Nutrient Extraction, Total Biomass, Partial Biomass
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.11 No.12,
December
17,
2024
ABSTRACT: Corn is the staple crop in Yucatan, Mexico, mainly grown on stony soils like the Leptosols, with low productive potential, but it is also cultivated in arable areas of rhodic Luvisols with better potential. However, due to an imminent, continuous demand for technology, basic nutrimental studies are needed. Fertilization, associated with plant nutrition, is the most demanding technology since it is the most expensive input. Fertilization programs should pay attention to indicators related to the uptake of nutrients and their allocation into different components of the Biomass including the Grain. If fertilizers are efficiently absorbed, the profitability of the crop can increase, and environmental pollution will be reduced. This work aims to measure the Grain yield potential of corn using organic, inorganic, and biofertilization methods. It evaluated the role of Biomass in the Grain Harvest Index (GHI), the Nitrogen Harvest Index (NHI) and the amount of Nitrogen (N) needed to produce 1 t.Grain. ha-1 of Grain. Twelve treatments were studied with a combination of Chemical fertilizer, Chicken manure and Biofertilizers (Azospirillum bacteria + Mycorrhiza fungus) distributed in a completely random block design. Grain production was subjected to an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) comparing means with a 5% Tukey test. With information from just three randomized selected treatments, the Total Biomass (TB) was partitioned into Stalk, Leaf, Husk and Grain to calculate the GHI and with the Nitrogen contents the NHI were assessed. Treatments were statistically different. Chemical fertilizer (120N-80 P2O5-00 K2O) + Chicken manure + Biofertilizer was the most outstanding with 10.58 t∙h−1 with a Relative Yield of 149.64% as compared to the least outstanding Control (00-00-00). The GHI varied from 0.49 to 0.57. The NHI ranged from 0.70 and 0.77 and between 16.33 and 18.35 kg∙N∙ha−1 is needed to produce 1 t∙Grain∙ha−1.