Maize (Zea mays L.) yield response to the effect of blended fertilizer and varieties under supplemental irrigation at Hadero Zuria Kebele, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Maize is one of the staple cereal crops in Ethiopia. However, in southern Ethiopia, the productivity of the crop is very low as compared to the average national productivity, which is mainly attributed to poor soil fertility and the use of low yielding varieties. Hence, a field experiment was conducted at Hadero Zuria kebele, southern Ethiopia under supplemental irrigation to investigate the effects of different rates of blended Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulphur, and Boron (NPSB) fertilizer on the performance of maize varieties. Treatments involving three varieties of maize (30G19, BH-546, and BH-547) and six rates of NPSB fertilizer (0, 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150) kg ha −1 were tested in RCBD using a factorial arrangement with three replications. Data on crop Phenological, growth, yield, and yield components were collected. The results showed that the blended NPSB fertilizer rates and varieties of maize affected days to physiological maturity, leaf area, leaf area index, hundred kernels weight (HKW), dry biomass yield (DBY), and grain yield (GY). The highest mean values for HKW, DBY, and GY were obtained from the 150 kg ha −1 NPSB rate. Similarly, the highest values for DBY and GY were obtained from the BH-546 variety. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were obtained on days to tasseling, days to silking, and harvest index (HI) due to the interaction effect of NPSB rates and varieties. As the NPSB rates increased from 0 to 150 kg ha −1 , HKW and DBY increased consistently from 29.62 to 36.62 g and 31.41 to 43.70 t ha − , 1 respectively. Grain yield showed a highly significant and positive correlation with cob length, leaf number, HI, HKW, and DBY. Also, maximized economic profitability was gained at a rate of 150 kg ha −1 NPSB fertilizer. Thus, from this result, the NPSB rate of 150 kg ha −1 with the hybrid maize variety BH-546 could be better for the study area.

Response of growth and yield of two cultivars of corn (Zea mays L.) to spraying with a chlorophyll bio stimulator (Disper chlorophyll GS)

“…This may be attributed to the genetic factor that caused the variation Cultivars in trait and their response to environmental conditions. This is in agreement with [15] and [6]. It was also found that spraying 2g/L of fertilizer achieved a significant increase in (LA) that achieved (5465.47 and 5947.12 cm2) compared to the cont.…”

Organogenesis of corn plants (Zea mays L.) at various concentrations of auxin and cytokinin plant growth regulators in vitro

“…Corn is the third largest staple food in the world after wheat and rice. Increasing the productivity of corn cultivation is highly dependent on the ability to provide and apply appropriate cultivation system techniques, including the use of high-quality seeds (Bheemanahalli, Vennam, Ramamoorthy, & Reddy, 2022), spacing (Zhang, Basso, Price, Putman, & Shuai, 2018), irrigation (Kaplan, Karaman, Kardes, & Kale, 2019;Orebo, Shanka, & Hadaro, 2021), pest and disease control (Bekeko et al, 2018), and fertilizers (Sajadinia, Ghazanfari, Naghavii, Naghavi, & Tahamipur, 2021). It is important to implement these techniques to support the growth and production of corn plants by meeting their nutritional needs.…”

Production and chemical quality of sweet corn with single fertilizer combination (SFC) on upland in West Papua

“…Research variables were weight measurement (g) [7]: The weight measurement was carried out by weighing the cobs that had been peeled from the cornhusk using a scale. Cob length measurement (mm) [8]: Cob length measurement was done after harvest, after the cobs are separated from the husk or peeled off. Measurements were made from the base to the tip of the cob using a tape measure or the like.…”

“…The growth of the plant can be observed from both increases in size (length) and volume (diameter). Orebo (2021) stated that the combined treatment of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and boron fertilizers (NPSB) produced a significant difference in the effect on cob length of three varieties of corn namely, 30G19, BH-546 and BH-547 [8]. The highest average cob length value of 20.79cm was obtained from the NPSB treatment of 100 kg/ha).…”