Precision nitrogen management in drip irrigated maize (Zea mays L.)

¹ Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, V. C. Farm, Mandya- 571 405, India
² Senior Farm Superintendent, Zonal Agricultural Research Station, V. C. Farm, Mandya - 571 405, India
³ Dept. of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, V. C. Farm, Mandya- 571 405, India

^* Corresponding author: sbyogananda@gmail.com

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted during kharif 2014 and 2015 at ZARS, V. C. Farm, Mandya to study the effect of precision nitrogen management on growth, yield and economics of drip irrigated maize. There were 9 treatments replicated thrice in Randomized Complete Block Design. Among the various treatments, drip fertigation of nitrogen through Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) meter sufficiency index of 95-100 per cent under paired row (30/90) recorded significantly higher growth and yield parameters viz., plant height, LAI, total dry matter production, cob length, number of rows per cob, number of kernels per cob and cob weight along with kernel (85.73 and 86.78 q/ha) and stover yield (140.4 and 145.3 q/ha) during both the years of experimentation as compared to UAS Bangalore package with surface irrigation and normal spacing of 60 cm X 30 cm and was being on par with nitrogen management through Leaf Colour Chart (LCC) 6, SPAD sufficiency index of 90-95 per cent and LCC 5. The SPAD sufficiency index of 95-100 per cent registered higher net returns (Rs. 69,634 and Rs. 77,614, respectively) and B:C ratio (2.82 and 3.00, respectively) followed by LCC 6.