0 Views
BHADRE CHANDRABASHI KASHINATH, N. SUNITHA*, A.V. NAGAVANI AND G. PRABHAKARA REDDY
Department of Agronomy, S.V.Agricultural College, Tirupati 517 502
An investigation on the performance of fodder maize to varied crop geometry and nitrogen levels was conducted during kharif, 2013 at S.V.Agricultural College, Tirupati on sandy loam soil. There were eighteen treatment combinations consisted of six crop geometries viz., 30 × 10 cm, 30 × 15 cm , 30 × 20 cm, 45 × 10 cm , 45 × 15 cm and 45 × 20 cm assigned to the main plots and three nitrogen levels viz., 140 kg ha-1, 180 kg ha-1 and 220 kg ha-1 applied to sub plots in split plot design with three replications. The crop geometry of 30 × 10 cm (3,33,333 plants ha-1) recorded the highest values of growth parameters and green fodder yield of fodder maize while they were found to be the lowest with 45 × 20 cm (1,11,111 plants ha-1). Growth characters like number of leaves plant-1 and dry matter accumulation as well as green fodder yield were increased due to increased levels of nitrogen application from 140 to 220 kg ha-1. The treatment combination of a crop geometry of 30 × 10 cm with application of 220 kg N ha-1 resulted in the maximum green fodder yield (412 q ha-1) and benefit-cost ratio (4.0) followed by 30 × 15 cm with 220 kg N ha-1.
Crop geometry, Fodder maize, Green fodder and Nitrogen levels