Research Article

Accessing the efficacy of different doses of phosphorus on growth and yield of spring maize (Zea mays L.) at Gulmi, Nepal

Shikha Sharma¹*, Ananta Prakash Subedi², Bibek Budhathoki¹, Srijana Neupane¹ and Praju Ghimire³

^*1Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

²Department of Agri-botany and Conservation Ecology, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal,

³Faculty of Agriculture, College of Natural Resource Management, Puranchaur, Kaski, Nepal

Corresponding author e-mail: sajjsharma44@gmail.com

(Received: 28/11/2022; Revised: 19/03/2023; Accepted: 25/04/2023)

ABSTRACT

Phosphorus is one of the most important crop-limiting elements which plays a crucial role in the growth as well as the development of the plant. To meet the crop need and to obtain the efficiency of fertilizer they should be applied in appropriate doses. Thus, an experiment including six different doses of phosphorus as a treatment (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100) kgha^-1 was designed to identify the optimum dose of phosphorus for better growth and yield of spring maize. The study was carried out according to one factorial RCBD with four replications of six treatments at Satyawati rural municipality, Khaireni, Gulmi from February-June 2022. Maize seeds (Arun-2) treated with Bavistin were sown by maintaining a spacing of 75*25 cm². Different observations like biometrical, phenological as well as yield-attributing characters were recorded. The results showed that the different doses of phosphorus significantly affected the recorded parameters. The plant height was found highest (164.92cm) with 100kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 which was statistically similar to the plant height (155.57cm) obtained at 80kg P₂O₅ ha^-1. The longest days to silking and tasseling were found at 0 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1. Likewise, cob length (23.05cm), number of grains per kernel (26.76), and shelling percentage (74.48%) were highest in plants with 100kg P₂O₅ ha^-1and number of kernel row per cob (15.19), number of grains per cob (406.22) ¹ and grain yield (6203.29kg ha^-1) was highest in plants with 80 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1. The maximum harvest index percentage (38.13%) was obtained in 60 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1. There was no significant variation of treatment on thousand-grain weight. This research showed that the treatment of 80kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 was found to boost the yield of maize by enhancing the growth and yield attributes of maize. Thus, for a better and improved yield of maize 80 kg P₂O₅ h^-1 is recommended in Gulmi.

Keywords: Arun-2, Fertilizer dose, Yield parameters, Nutrients.