Response of Fodder Maize to Various Levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorus

摘要

Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are of the most important and complex nutrients for the crop plants in particular for grain yield and quality. The field trials were laid out in randomized complete block design having three replications. Research trial plots were located at Agricultural Research Farm of Agricultural University Peshawar (Ameer Mohammad Khan Campus Mardan) during kharif season in 2012 to investigate the response of maize variety (Jalal) to three phosphorus rates (60, 90 and 120 kg·ha-1) and four nitrogen rates (90, 120, 150, 180 kg·ha-1) for agronomical traits. These traits investigated included number of plant per m2 (NP m2), plant height (PH), number of leaves plant-1 (NLP), leaf area plant-1·cm2 (LAP), fresh weight of plants kg·ha-1 (FW) and dry weight of plant kg·ha-1 (DW), were investigated. Results of the study showed that application of N @ 180 and P @ 120 kg·ha-1 significantly increased fodder yield of maize. The linear increase in biomass yield clearly indicated that N was a limiting nutrient factor and that N demand along with P has a positive response. At higher application rates, N fertilizer significantly increased biomass component, improved N uptake with increasing nitrogen use efficiency and decreased its losses to the environment and below plant zone. So this study showed that the phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers have a positive effect on the fodder yield of maize.