Response of maize to the combined application of innovative organic and inorganic sources of nutrients in an acid Alfisol of lower Himalayas

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a high-yielding crop with remarkable productivity potential. However, realizing this potential heavily relies on efficient nutrient management. To optimize maize growth and yield, it is crucial to employ appropriate combinations of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients. Thus, the combined application of nutrients in an integrated manner consistently ensures higher and more stable crop yields. In the Kharif season of 2019, a field experiment was conducted at the Soil Science Experimental Farm of CSK HPKV, Palampur, focusing on the impact of combining organic and inorganic sources of nutrients on maize hybrid. The experiment was performed in accordance with a randomized block design, with ten different treatments replicated three times. The findings revealed that the maize crop responded significantly to various nutrient sources. Among the treatments tested, the combined application of Sagarika (both soil and foliar) along with water soluble fertilizers (18:18:18) and 75% NPK resulted in the highest grain (5.7 t/ha) and stover yields (8.8 t/ha) of maize. Additionally, this treatment exhibited superior results in terms of cob length (17.90 cm), cob diameter (4.31 cm), number of grains per cob (470), and test weight (32.77 g), surpassing all other treatments. In contrast, the lowest values (16.07 cm, 4.24 cm, 378 and 27.96 g for cob length, cob diameter, number of grains per cob, and test weight, respectively) were observed with the application of 75% NPK alone. Furthermore, optimizing nutrient doses through synergistic integration of organic and inorganic sources also improved the leaf nutrient status as well as the total nutrient uptake of a crop.