The effect of nutriseed pack application on maize yield and its components

Transcription

1 An Asian Journal of Soil Science Volume 7 Issue 2 December, 2012 Research Article The effect of nutriseed pack application on maize yield and its components K. RADHIKA, K. ARULMOZHISELVAN, V. VELU, S. MAHIMAIRAJA AND K. KUMAR MEMBERS OF RESEARCH FORUM : Corresponding author : K. RADHIKA, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, COIMBATORE (T.N.) INDIA radhikapath@rediffmail.com Co-authors : K. ARULMOZHISELVAN, V. VELU, S. MAHIMAIRAJA AND K. KUMAR, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, COIMBATORE (T.N.) INDIA Received : ; Revised : ; Accepted : Summary To study the nutriseed pack application of nutrients on the yield of maize,a field experiment was conducted with following treatments viz., T 1 Control;T per cent NPK - Surface application of fertilizers; T 3, T 4, T 5 : 75, 100, and 125 per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (Plain) ;T per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (Furadan); T per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (neem) ;T per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (fertilizer + manure mixture).the results of the experiment indicated the nutriseed pack with furadan recorded the highest grain yield of 4489 kg ha -1 which was 13.2 per cent higher than surface broadcast, and stover yield of 7939 kg ha -1 which was 20.3 per cent higher than surface broadcast. On an average nutriseed pack with furadan recorded more number of grains per cob (248), number of grains/ row (17.2), number of rows/ cob (14.4), number of cobs/ 100m 2 (881). Key words : Nutriseed pack, Deep placement, Drip irrigation, Maize How to cite this article : Radhika, K., Arulmozhiselvan, K., Velu, V., Mahimairaja, S. and Kumar, K. (2012). The effect of nutriseed pack application on maize yield and its components. Asian J. Soil Sci., 7(2):. Introduction Optimum nutrient management has long been acknowledged as being critical for producing high yield in maize. One means of increasing the nutrient supply without increasing the fertilizer amount is to improve the efficiency of fertilizer, which can be achieved through deep placement of the fertilizers. Nutriseed pack technique which combines the promising aspects of deep placement of fertilizers and integrated nutrient management, under surface irrigation as well as water saving irrigation namely the drip irrigation, in comparison with conventional surface broadcast method of fertilizer application. Drip irrigation is the recent advancement in irrigation which has been found ideally suitable for the maize crop. In this method, water is provided most efficiently at the required rate and practically near the root zone of the crop. Field experiment was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of precise application water by drip irrigation and precise placement of fertilizer by nutriseed pack gave well-defined results for the deep placement and conventional broadcast methods. Phene and Beale (1976) found that sweet corn yields were maximized with automated high frequency drip irrigation. Trickle irrigation studies with sugarcane in Hawaii showed that application of N and phosphorus continuously through the trickle system was more efficient both in terms of nutrient uptake and fresh weight accumulation than trickle application at bi-monthly intervals. Janat and Somi (2001) found that seed cotton yield, dry matter production and lint properties were maximized with drip irrigation than surface irrigation on cotton. Deep placement can be done with simple tools and incidentally aim in the reduction in labour requirement, then farmers can prefer it to adopt easily.asha (2003) made a pioneering approach of deep placing NPK fertilizers just below the germinating seedling with an aid of tubular holder called nutriseed holder, which contained sprouted seeds on top and fertilizers at bottom. This study with 15 N tracer demonstrated a 57.1 per cent of fertilizer N recovery, which exceeded two folds of recovery noted for surface broadcast (26.1 %). Besides, appreciably deep placement recorded the very high rice grain yield with a yield increase of 81.8 per cent over surface HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

2 K. RADHIKA, K. ARULMOZHISELVAN, V. VELU, S. MAHIMAIRAJA AND K. KUMAR broadcast method under flooded conditions. Deivanai (2005) experimented with nutriseed holder in plastic which contained seed on top cavity, manure in the middle tube and fertilizer at bottom cavity, which gave per cent increase in ADT 36 rice yield grown in soil column, when compared to surface broadcast method, under submerged water regime.in this article, attempt was made with different levels of nutrients in nutriseed pack under drip irrigation condition for maize yield and its components. Resources and Research Methods Design of nutriseed holder : New design was a modification of previously designed nutriseed holders of Asha (2003) and Deivanai (2005). When it was first designed by Asha (2003), the entire unit was made out of glass. Deivanai (2005) modified the first design into three separate units as seed holder, manure tube and fertilizer holder using plastic material. These three units were fitted together as single nutriseed pack. In the present study modification was attempted to replace butter paper and use newspaper so that it would be cheap and environmentally safe. Further, manure and fertilizers were pressed into pellets by a device, which was newly designed for this purpose. Preparation of nutriseed pack : The fertilizer materials needed to supply 100 or 75 per cent N and K as per treatment and 98 per cent of P, for a single maize plant was taken and placed in the pelleting device. Urea, single super phosphate and muriate of potash were used as nutrient sources. By pressing, about 30 mm length fertilizer pellet was formed. Then the pellet was placed in a small thin polyethylene bag (1 x 1.5 inch), and the mouth was sealed with hot wire of sealing machine as a water proof pack.for preparing manure pellet, enriched vermicompost was used. For this purpose 10 kg of vermicompost was mixed with 1 kg of single super phosphate and incubated for 30 days with adequate moisture. At the end of the period, the enriched manure was pellettized in the pelleting device. Every time 2-3 g of enriched compost was placed in the trough of pelleting device and then compressed into a pellet of mm size. Each pellet contained about 2 per cent of the recommended P, for each plant.when both fertilizer and manure pellets were made ready, they were assembled on a 6 x 6 cm perforated newspaper as a roll. The paper was placed on a flat surface. On middle lower portion of paper, first polythene packed fertilizer pellet was placed, coinciding to the bottom edge. Over fertilizer pellet, the manure pellet was placed. Then, one end of paper was flipped over the pellets and then folded as a roll. The closing edge of the paper roll was fixed with white adhesive and pasted. These rolls were then air dried and stored in cartons. Few days before sowing in the inside top cavity of the paper roll one hybrid maize seed was put and pressed with slightly moist soil containing inoculants viz., azophos (mixture of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria) and Trichoderma. The extending paper length was folded inside to protect seed from falling. The roll which contained fertilizer pellet at bottom, manure pellet in the middle and seed with soil and bioinoculant, in total, is called as nutriseed pack. Field experiment : In order to evaluate the effect of levels of nutrients, furadan, Neem used in nutriseed packs, a field experiment was conducted with the test crop of hybrid maize under drip irrigation. The field experiment was conducted in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during The field was ploughed well, leveled and raised beds (120 cm) and channel space (30 cm) were formed alternatively. The field was divided in to plots of 13.5m x 1.5 m in Randomized Block Design. The experimental farm experiences semiarid climate with dry summer extending from March to August. The mean annual rainfall is 893 mm, out of which 39.8 per cent is distributed during South West Monsoon, 42 per cent during North East Monsoon, 2.1 per cent during winter and 16.1 per cent during summer. The daily maximum and minimum temperature ranges at C and C during South West Monsoon, C and C during North East Monsoon C and C during winter and C and C during summer, respectively. Seeds of maize hybrid CoH(M) 5 were sown by dibbling directly for surface broadcast treatment and control; and by implanting nutriseed pack at one seed per sowing. Sowing was done on both sides in paired row on 120 cm raised bed by placing seed 20 cm away from the centrally laid drip line. Within row 15 cm spacing was given.the treatments details are as follow T 1 Control;T per cent NPK - surface application of fertilizers; T 3, T 4, T 5 : 75, 100, and 125 per cent NPKnutriseed pack (plain) ;T per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (furadan); T per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (neem) ;T per cent NPK- nutriseed pack (fertilizer + manure mixture). Recommended cultural practices were followed throughout the growing period. At harvest yield parameters and yield were recorded. Statistical analysis : The growth, yield parameters and yield obtained in the study were subjected to statistical scrutiny by analysis of variance (ANOVA) as outlined by Panse and Sukhatme (1967). Research Findings and Discussion The experimental findings of the present study have been presented in the following sub heads: HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 219 Asian J. Soil Sci., (Dec., 2012) 7 (2) :

3 EFFECT OF NUTRISEED PACK APPLICATION ON MAIZE YIELD & ITS COMPONENTS Yield at harvest : Comparison made in the present study to identify the effect of deep placement with respect to conventional surface broadcast method produced significant differences among treatments. Surface broadcast recorded a grain yield of 3964 kg ha -1 which was 1435 kg higher than unfertilized control (Table 1). This response occurred for surface broadcasted fertilizer at 100 per cent NPK under drip irrigation indicated definite need for fertilizers in soil testing with low N, medium phosphorus and high K. It could be presumed that the response could be mainly due to N and P. In the other treatments when the same 100 per cent NPK was applied as deep placement in nutriseed pack the response was further noticed in terms of yield, owing to the efficiency enhancement of applied nutrients. Placement of nutriseed pack with furadan recorded the highest grain yield of 4489 kg ha -1 which was 13.2 per cent higher than that of surface broadcast. Mere addition of a small amount of furadan in nutriseed pack was responsible for the yield increase. Besides imparting insecticidal function, furadan might have also acted as a growth promoting substance. The effect of furadan was exhibited from the early stage of crop in biometric and yield parameters clearly. Similarly, the highest stover yield also recorded for nutriseed pack with furadan (7939 kg ha -1 ) was 20.3 per cent higher than surface broadcast. Placement of nutriseed pack with increasing fertilizer levels as 75, 100 and 125 per cent NPK proportionately increased the grain yield. Yet, the yield recorded for 125 per cent NPK was at par with 100 per cent NPK indicating the adequacy of nutrients attained at 100 per cent NPK itself. Addition of 25 per cent NPK did not improve yield significantly because of relatively quick release of nutrients expected with plain fertilizers when compared to nutriseed pack with neem or with fertilizer + manure mixture. In the latter two treatments addition of neem/ manure might have slowed down nitrification by initial immobilization processes and prolonged the N availability. Available nutrients and nutrient uptake estimated for 125 per cent plain NPK nutriseed pack was almost comparable to that of 100 per cent NPK nutriseed pack treatments in the present study. This could be cited in testimony for the insignificant response for 125 per cent NPK nutriseed pack treatment. By and large, the response to nutriseed pack was obtained in drip irrigation too, as recorded for surface broadcast. In regions of water scarcity, drip irrigation has become the necessity. Besides water conservation, it enables slow and precise application of water at the rhizosphere region. The similar response obtained in the drip irrigation as that of surface irrigation might be due to the frequent application of water resulting more even distribution of soil moisture in active crop root zone, sufficient moisture conservation, better utilization of nutrients and limited infestation of weeds. In conventional irrigation, crop response is affected due to low moisture availability caused by losses due to evaporation and deep percolation, weed infestation and infrequent irrigation (Jain et al., 2000 and Khurshid et al., 2006). The high status of available nutrients in nutriseed pack treatment throughout period of crop could be the evidence of the controlled release phenomenon. With higher nutrient availability and nutrient uptake, high dry matter and yield would have resulted under nutriseed pack. Deivanai (2005) reported a yield increase of 13.6 per cent with plastic nutriseed holder placement over surface broadcast in soil column study growing direct seeded rice with drip irrigation. The first work carried out on deep placement using nutriseed holder resulted in the rice grain yield increase to the tune of 81.8 per cent over surface broadcast (Asha and Arulmozhiselvan, 2006). As nutriseed holder aided in the precise placement of NPK fertilizers at 5 cm depth and controlled dissolution of fertilizers, a slow and steady release of fertilizers might have occurred. With the integration of vermicompost yield increased greatly due to complementary effect of vermicompost with deep placed NPK nutrients contributing more nutrients in the root zone. In addition, on the decomposition of vermicompost the microbial population might have immobilized the initial flush of nutrients that were dissolving out of fertilizers placed Table 1 : Yield (kg ha -1 )at harvest under drip irrigation Treatments Stover Grain T T T T T T T T S.E.D C.D HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE220 Asian J. Soil Sci., (Dec., 2012) 7 (2) :

4 K. RADHIKA, K. ARULMOZHISELVAN, V. VELU, S. MAHIMAIRAJA AND K. KUMAR in the encapsulation and thus prevented the loss of nutrients. Further, the abundant nutrient concentration that prevailed around the spot of deep placement might have also reduced the temporary depression effect due to high C:N ratio of vermicompost on crop growth, which normally occurs due to the immobilization during decomposition of vermicompost. The bioinoculants added through seed pellet viz., Azospirillum, Phosphobacteria, and Trichoderma might have populated in the root zone and benefitted the plant. Thus integration of organic, inorganic and biological sources of nutrients / stimulants / bioinoculants with each nutriseed pack in micro level has been achieved in the present study. Adesemoye et al. (2008) demonstrated that microbial inoculants increased nutrient content of plants and overall plant growth, increased N per gram of seed and N uptake per plot and improved N uptake efficiency by potentially reducing nitrate leaching. Yield attributes at harvest (Table 2) : No. of grains/cob : The number of grains per cob ranged from 168 to 253.The lowest numberof grains per cob recorded was with control (168). The highest numberof grains per cob (253) was observed with 125 per cent NPK (T 5 ) nutriseed pack 253 which was at par with T 6, T 7 and T 8 treatments. The conventional practice (T 2 ) recorded a lower value of number of grains per cob than nutriseed pack treatments. No. of grains/row : The numberof grains/row ranged from 12.4 to 17.3 at harvest stage among the treatments. The number of grains per row associated with nutriseed pack treatments T 4, T 5, T 6, T 7 ands T 8 were high and at par. The control recorded the lowest number of grains/row (12.4). The conventional practice of 100 per cent NPK surface application of fertilizers (T 2 ) recorded significantly lower numberof grains/row than nutriseed pack treatments. No. of rows/cob : The number of rows/cob ranged from 13.6 to Except control which recorded the lowest number of rows (13.6) all other fertilized treatments showed number of rows/ cob ranging from 14.3 to 14.8 having at par effect. 100 grain weight : The treatment of nutriseed pack with Neem (T 7 ) recorded the highest 100 grain (20.40 g) at harvest stage which was at par with conventional practice (T 2 ) and nutriseed pack treatments. The control recorded significantly lowest 100 grain weight. Cob length : The cob length ranged from 12.7 to 19.8 cm at harvest stage among the treatments. The cob length associated with nutriseed pack with furadan (T 6 ) was significantly highest (19.8 cm). The control recorded the lowest cob length (12.7 cm). The conventional practice of 100 per cent NPK surface applications of fertilizers (T 2 ) and 75 per cent NPK nutriseed pack (T 3 ) recorded lower cob length than 100 per cent NPK and 125 per cent NPK nutriseed pack treatments, respectively. Cob girth : The cob girth ranged from 11.7 to 14.8 cm among the treatments. The cob girth associated with nutriseed pack with furadan (T 6 ) was 14.8 cm which was at par with other 100 per cent NPK nutriseed pack treatments.the control recorded significantly lowest cob girth (11.7 cm). The conventional practice of 100 per cent NPK surface application of fertilizers (T 2 ) and 75 per cent NPK nutriseed pack treatments recorded lower cob girth. No. of cobs/100m 2 : The number of cobs/100m 2 ranged from 842 to 881 at harvest stage among the treatments. The number of cobs/ 100m 2 associated with nutriseed pack with furadan (T 6 ) was Table 2 : Yield attributes at harvest under drip irrigation (kg ha -1 ) Treatments No. of grains/ cob No. of grains /row No. rows / cob 100 grain wt. (g) Cob length (cm) Cob girth (cm) No. of cobs /100 m 2 T T T T T T T T S.E.D C.D HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 221 Asian J. Soil Sci., (Dec., 2012) 7 (2) :

5 EFFECT OF NUTRISEED PACK APPLICATION ON MAIZE YIELD & ITS COMPONENTS 881. The control recorded the lowest number of cobs/100m 2 (842). The conventional practice of 100 per cent NPK surface applications of fertilizers (T 2 ) recorded a lower number of cobs/ 100m 2 than nutriseed pack treatments at harvest stage of crop growth. Yield attributes reflect the source to sink relationship. Deep placement of nutriseed packs exhibited its promising effect of steady nutrient supply by increasing yield attributes. On an average 100 per cent NPK nutriseed pack with furadan induced the very high number of grain / cob (248), grains / row (17.2), rows / cob (14.4) and 100 grain weight (20.37 g), consequently resulted in the highest number of cobs /100 m 2 (881). This could be possible reason for the highest grain yield recorded in this treatment under drip irrigation. Girardin et al. (1992) found that N placement technique had significant effect on number of grains/ cob. Significantly more number of grains/ cob was recorded for the crop given fertilizer by band placement against the minimum grains per cob in broadcast. Literature Cited Adesemoye, A.O., Torbert, H.A. and Kloepper, J.W. (2008). Enhanced plant nutrient use efficiency with PGPR and AMF in an integrated nutrient management system. Can. J. Microbiol., 54: Asha, V.S. (2003). Assessment of contribution of Azolla and deep placed fertilizers in direct seeded rice using 15 N technique. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, T.N. (INDIA). Asha, V.S. and Arulmozhiselvan, K. (2006). 15 N tracer technique for studying efficiency of deep placed fertilizer through nutriseed holder in direct seeded rice. J. Nuclear Agric. Boil., 35 (1):1-14. Deivanai, M. (2005). Dynamics of deep placed fertilizer nutrients in soil column under controlled irrigation for direct seeded rice. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, T.N. (INDIA). Girardin, P.H., Meyer, J.J. Biraentazle, M. and Freyss, P. (1992). Effect of conventional and multiple N application by fertilization on maize grain yields and NO 3 -N residues. Dev. Plant & Soil Sci., 53 (Field Crop Absts.,47:7016;1994). Jain, N., Chauhan, H.S., Singh, P.K. and Shukla, K.N. (2000). Response of tomato under drip irrigation and plastic mulching, In: Processing of 6 th international micro irrigation congress, Micro irrigation technology for Development Agriculture, pp Janat, M. and Somi, G. (2001). Performance of cotton crop grown under surface irrigation and drip fertigatin.seed cotton yield, dry matter production, and lint properties. Commun. Soil. Sci. Plant Anal., 19 & 20 : Khurshid, K., Iqbal, M. Arif, M.S. and Nawaz, A. (2006). Effect of tillage mulch on soil physical properties and growth of maize. Internat. J. Agric Biol., 5 : Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. (1967). Statistical methods of agricultural workers, Indian council of agricultural research, NEW DELHI, INDIA. Phene, C.J. and Beale, O.W. (1976). High-frequency irrigation for water and nutrient management in humid regions. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 40 : ******** ****** **** HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE 222 Asian J. Soil Sci., (Dec., 2012) 7 (2) :