Yield attributes
The data on yield attributes and yield are given in Table 1.
Cob length
The cob length was significantly influenced by levels of fertilizers and soil application of Beema green granules with organic and inorganic foliar nutrients in the season. Among the treatments, RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T
11) recorded the highest cob length of 25.25 cm during
rabi 2018-2019. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
10, T
12, T
8, T
7, T
9, T
2, T
1, T
13, T
5, T
4 and T
6 stood next in the order of ranking. The least cob length of 11.30 cm was recorded under T
3. This may be attributed to higher water regime and better water balance, which lead to vigorous growth and more yield attributes produced
(Sharma et al., 2010). Dash et al., (2010) reported that INM source has significantly increased the availability of nitrogen in soil and thus result in increasing the yield attributes like Cob length, cob diameter, Number of grains cob
-1 were increased in maize. Similar findings were reported by
Rakesh Kumar (2015). These results suggested that adequate supply of nutrients throughout vegetative growth was necessary for proper cob development in maize as reported by
Samsani (2016).
Cob diameter
The cob diameter was significantly influenced by levels of fertilizer + soil application of Beema green granules and foliar application of organic and inorganic nutrients in the season. Among the treatments, RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250 gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75 kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T
11) recorded the highest cob diameter of 6.25 cm. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
10, T
12, T
8, T
7, T
9, T
2, T
1, T
13, T
5, T
4 and T
6 stood next in the order of ranking. The least cob diameter of 3.55 cm was registered under T
3.
Pinjari (2007) reported that yield attributes of maize
viz., girth and length of cobs grain cob
-1 and shelling percentage remarkably improved because of increased levels of N and P. Our results confirm those of
Kumar et al., (2012). These results suggested that adequate supply of nutrients from both organic and inorganic source was necessary for proper cob diameter in maize as reported by
Chapagain (2010) and
Samsani (2016).
Grains number cob-1
The grain number cob
-1 was significantly influenced by levels of fertilizer + soil application of Beema green granules and foliar application of nutrients. Among the treatments, the treatment RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250 gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75 kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T
11) recorded the higher grain number cob
-1 of 448. It was followed by T
10 and T
12 with the value of 436 and 433. The above treatment was followed by T
8 with value of 426. The treatments T
7 and T
9 were on par with each other and ranked next in order. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
2, T
1, T
13, T
5, T
4 and T
6 stood next in the order of ranking. The least grain number cob-1 of 348 was observed under T
3. This increase might be due to better nutrient uptake and development of the plant and cob due to combined application of mineral fertilizer and organic manure as reported by
Prasad et al., (2003). Integrated use of nutrients significantly influenced the yield and yield attributing characters
viz., grain weight/cob, number of grain/cob and test weight (
Ravikumar, 2009).
Yield
Grain yield
Application of RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250 gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75 kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T
11), registered the highest grain yield of 6260 kg ha
-1. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
2, T
1, T
13, T
5, T
4 and T
6 stood next in the order of ranking. The least grain yield of 4056.50 kg ha
-1 was observed under T
3. Further grain yield of maize mainly depends upon the final plant population and yield of individual plant, the latter in turn depends upon the number of ears per plant and the weight of grains per cob which resulted in higher grain yield in maize. Similar results were also reported by
Saini and Kumar (2014) and
Nasab et al., (2015).
Stover yield
The stover yield was significantly influenced by levels of fertilizer soil application of Beema green granules and foliar application of nutrients. Among the treatments, RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250 gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75 kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T
11) was superior and recorded the highest stover yield of 8840 kg ha
-1. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
2, T
1, T
13, T
5, T4 and T
6 stood next in the order of ranking. The treatment T
3 registered the lowest stover yield of 6419 kg ha
-1.
Saini and kumar (2014) have shown that substitution may be because of slow release of nutrient from them due to slow mineralization.
Nutrient uptake and post-harvest soil nutrient status
There was significant effect of different sources of nutrients on the Nutrient uptake of maize (Table 2).
Nutrient uptake
Highest uptake of N, P and K was observed with application of RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250 gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T11), excelled other treatments by recording the highest nutrient uptake of 170.00 kg of N and 60.50 kg P
2O
5 and 75.29 kg K
2O. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
10, T
12, T
7, T
9, T
8, T
2, T
13 and T
1 stood next in the order of ranking. The treatments T
5 and T
4 were next in order. The least uptake of nutrients was observed under T
3 with a value of 132.55 kg of N, 45.40 kg P
2O
5 43.66 kg K
2O ha
-1 respectively. The application of organic and inorganic fertilizers significantly influenced the nutrient uptake by maize
(Meena et al., 2006). Moreover many authors like
Shukla and Tyagi (2009) and
Verma et al., (2006) also reported that balance and integrated nutrient supply caused significantly higher uptake of primary nutrients. This increase in nutrient uptake might be due to adequate moisture that influenced the nutrient uptake of N, P and K. This result was also confirmed by
Mudalagiriyappa et al., (2012) in sorghum. The higher nutrient uptake was due to granules that help its availability in rhizosphere as reported by
Rao and Shaktawat (2002). Similar findings were reported by
Rakesh Kumar (2015).
Soil available NPK after harvest
The data on post-harvest soil available NPK status are given in Table 2. All the treatments showed significant difference on post-harvest soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium Among the treatments, 75% RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) as soil application (T
3) recorded a highest post-harvest soil available N of 239.45 kg ha
-1, P of 39.05 kg ha
-1 and K of 101.34 kg ha
-1 during
rabi 2018. The rest of the treatments
viz., T
6, T
4, T
5, T
13, T
1 and T
2 stood next in the order of ranking. The least post-harvest soil available N of 202 kg ha
-1, P of 24.00 kg ha
-1and K of 69.71 kg ha
-1 respectively was recorded under T
11. The above result is in similar position with
Sharma and Banik (2012) who reported that integration of organic and inorganic sources of nutrient improved soil fertility status. The result obtained is in line with
Chaudhry et al., (2009).
Economics
The data on the economics of different treatments are presented in Table 3.
The economics parameters such as gross return, net return and return rupee
-1 invested were calculated based on the prevailing market price. The highest gross return of Rs 97,060 and net return of Rs 28380 were obtained under T
11. The least gross return (Rs 59,993) and net return (Rs 34665) were obtained with T
3. The highest return rupee
-1 invested of Rs 2.42 was obtained under RDF + Beema green granules (25 kg ha
-1) (20 DAS) soil application + foliar application of Uphaar (250gm ha
-1) (30 DAS) and Tracel (3.75 kg ha
-1) (40 DAS) foliar spray (T
11), might be owing to increase in yields of maize. Similar findings were also reported in maize by
Sharma et al., (2011). Our results confirm with
Rakesh Kumar (2015). This is followed by T
10 and T
12. On the other hand the least return rupee
-1 invested was obtained under T
3 with a value of Rs 1.36.