Vol. 6, Issue 2 (2018)
Performance of autumn maize crop as influenced by seaweed saps
Author(s): Santosh Kumar Singh, SN Suman and Aradhna Kumari
Abstract: A field experiment was carried out at Crop Research Centre of Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar out to evaluate the performance of two sea weed liquid fertilizers extracted from ‘Kappaphycus†and “Gracilaria†on Autumn Maize. The experiment was carried out on Autumn Maize because of yield gaps and largest cropped area so that the benefits of Seaweed Liquid Fertilizers, if any be disseminated among larger maize growing farming community. The experiment was carried out in RBD with 10 treatments. The treatments consisted of RDF (Recommended Dose of Fertilizer for Maize Crop) N: P: K: 120: 75: 50 and Zn @ 5 Kg/ha along with 3 sprays of K sap, G sap and water as control. Spraying of saps was done at knee high, tasselling and silking stage. Maize cultivar 900 M gold was used. The crop was sown in February and harvested in May. Both K and G saps were effective in increasing grain yield of maize over control. K Sap Outperformed G sap at all the concentrations as the yields were found to be statistically superior. Highest grain yield was observed at 10% K sap (72.0 q/ha) which means an increase of 35.3% over control. In case of G Sap highest grain yield was observed at 15% concentration (67.3 q/ha) i.e. an increase of 26.5% over control. The mixture of 7.5% K sap and 7.5 % G sap (T9) was statistically superior as compared to spray of 10% G sap alone. Application of 10% K sap was best with respect to enhancement in crop yield. Uptake of N, P & S were more in grain as compared to straw of maize, while uptake of K, Ca Mg, Cu, Fe &Mn followed the reverse trend in grain & straw. In both cases uptake, due to application of saps was significantly superior over control and increased progressively with increasing concentration of saps from 2.5 to 15%. Highest total uptake of N, P, K, Ca, S, Cu, Mn and B was observed at 10% K-Sap level while for Mg, Zn & Fe highest uptake was observed at 15% K-Sap. In general, total uptake of nutrient was more with K-Sap as compared to G-Sap at almost all the concentration levels of the sap. However, nutrient concentration in grain and straw was found more at 15% K sap. Hence, if better yield is desired 10 % K sap would be best but for quality produce 15 % K sap could be used.
Pages: 2341-2345 | 487 Views 36 Downloads
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How to cite this article:
Santosh Kumar Singh, SN Suman, Aradhna Kumari. Performance of autumn maize crop as influenced by seaweed saps. Int J Chem Stud 2018;6(2):2341-2345.
