Standardization Of Sowing Window For Kharif Maize (zea Mays L.) In Scarce Rainfall Zone

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U. RAVI*, P. MUNIRATHNAM, G. PRABHAKARA REDDY AND P. KAVITHA

Department of Agronomy, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502, Chittoor Dt., A.P.

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station farm of Nandyal during kharif 2016 to study the “Standardization of sowing window and phosphorous requirement for kharif maize (Zea mays L.) in vertisols. Among the sowing dates, crop sown during II FN of July recorded higher kernel and straw yields. However, the next best time for sowing of maize was I FN of August and it was at par with II FN of August. The lower kernel and stover yields were recorded with crop sown during I FN of July.

KEYWORDS:

Maize, sowing dates, kernel yield and stover yield.

INTRODUCTION

Maize (Zea mays. L) is one of the most important food crop in many countries. It is the third most important cereal after rice and wheat in the world. It is called as queen of cereals. It is cultivated in an area of 150 M ha across 160 countries and contributes 36 per cent (782 M

T) of grain production in the world (Tollenaar and Lee, 2006). India ranks fifth among the maize producing Countries (FAO, 2010). At present, it occupies 9.23 M ha with a productivity of 2.56 t ha-1. In Andhra Pradesh, maize is cultivated in 9.2 lakh ha out of which 7.4 lakh ha is grown during kharif with an average productivity of 2187 kg ha-1 and remaining area is under rabi with an average productivity of 4125 kg ha.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station in black cotton soils of Nandyal farm of Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University, which is geographically situated at an altitude of 211.76 m above mean sea level with geographical location of 150 28″ N latitude and 780 29″ E longitude in the scarce rainfall zone of Andhra Pradesh. The experiment was laid out in split plot design and replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of four sowing dates viz., I FN of July, II FN of July, I FN of August and II FN of August and three phosphorous levels, viz., 75 per cent recommended dose of phosphorous, 100 per cent recommended dose of phosphorous and 125 per cent

recommended dose of phosphorous. Observations were recorded on growth parameters viz., plant height, leaf area index, dry matter production and yield attributes viz., number of cobs per plant, number of kernels per cob, test weight, kernel yield, straw yield and harvest index.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Growth parameters

Among the sowing windows, crop sown during II FN of July recorded higher plant height at all the stages. The next best sowing window was crop sown on I FN of August, which was at par with II FN of August (Table 1). The shorter plant height was recorded with crop sown during I FN of July. The possible reason for shorter plant height might be due to moisture stress at early stage followed by excess moisture at tasseling and silking stages. At delayed sowing, reduced photo intensity and duration of light might be responsible for lowering down the crop growth. These results are in line with Jadhav et al. (2015). The leaf area index and dry matter accumulation per plant was significantly higher with crop sown during II FN of July. The next best time for these parameters was I FN of August and it was on par with II FN of August. Longer vegetative period for production of more leaf area index and dry matter for increasing leaf area and dry matter production (Sulochana et al., 2015). The lower values of these parameters were recorded with crop sown during I FN of August.

Yield and yield attributing characters

Crop sown during II FN of July recorded significantly higher number of cobs plant-1 and number of kernels per cob. The lower number of cobs plant-1 and kernels per cob was recorded with I FN of July sowing, which might be due to unfavourable weather during crop growing period. Either early or delayed sowing considerably reduced the number of cobs plant-1 (Maga et al., 2015), who observed significant variation in number of cobs plant-1 at different sowing windows.

Higher values of test weight, kernel yield, stover yield was recorded with crop sown during II FN of July, which was significantly superior over other sowing windows. However, the next best time for sowing of maize was I FN of August which was at par with II FN of August. The lower yield attributes were recorded with crop sown during I FN of July (Table 1). Higher kernel yield might be attributed to better growth parameters like plant height, leaf area index and dry matter production and yield attributing characters such as number of kernels per cob, number of cobs per plant and test weight. This is in accordance with the results reported by Jaliya et al. (2008) who reported that higher growth and yield parameters could be attributed to the favourable agro climatic conditions particularly temperature, solar radiation and relative humidity coincide with even rainfall distribution. The lower growth and yield parameters could be attributed to the uneven rainfall distribution, which causes water logging, that affects soil aeration and plant metabolism, especially photosynthesis, assimilate formation and translocation, cell division and elongation thus inducing stunted growth and development. The optimum sowing time causes encountering of kernel formation and filling stages with long days and maximum energy needed to photosynthesis resulting in higher yields while, in late planting dates due to shorter growing period the plants have not enough time for complete maturity.

Higher stover yield under II FN of July might be due to favourable weather conditions for better growth parameters like plant height, leaf area index and dry matter accumulation, which leads to efficient translocation of assimilates to sink resulting higher stover yield. The lower stover yield was recorded with I FN of July. The possible reasons might be unfavourable weather conditions at critical stages, excess evaporative demand at early stages followed by cloudy and high relative humidity at maturity stage leads to inefficient utilization of growth resources.

Higher harvest index was recorded with II FN of July and I FN of August, which might be due to increased kernel yield as well as total dry matter. It represents the more ability of the plant to transfer and allocation of photosynthates to economic parts (Azadbakht et al., 2012).

CONCLUSION

Sowing of maize during II FN of July is the best sowing window for farmers for getting higher kernel yield and monetary returns in scarce rainfall zone of Andhra Pradesh.

REFERENCES

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  2. FAO, 2010. Agriculture Statistics by Country. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nation, Rome, Italy.
  3. Jadhav, A., Kumar, A., Singh, A.K., Ishwar Singh and Das, T.K. 2015. Response of maize hybrids (Zea mays L.) to staggered sowing. Indian Journal of Agronomy.60 (3): 476 – 478.
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