Evaluating different nitrogen sources
for sustainable production of autumn
maize (Zea mays L.)
Synopsis Defence
Supervisor: Dr. Haroon Zaman Khan
Maize
Important cereal crop
(Chaudhary, 1983)
Cultivated area = 950 thousand ha
Annual production = 3,341 thousand t
(Govt. of Pakistan, 2010-2011)
Serves as,
food for human;
feed for livestock & poultry;
and raw material for agro-based industries
(Tariq et al., 2002)
Importance of N
• Plant normally contain 1 to 5% by weight of N.
• Essential component of Amino acid.
• Integral component of chlorophyll and enzymes.
• Building block of plant tissues.
• Stimulation of root growth and uptake of other nutrients.
• Imbalance use of nitrogen can cause delaying maturity, effect the
availability of P, K and S.
• Chances of lodging.
• More chances of insect attack.
(Anonymous, 2000; Belger et al., 1978)
Role of N in maize
• LAI
• Stem diameter
• LAD
• Grain size
• Quality & quantity of grain
• Stover yield
• No. of grains per cob
• Plant height
• 1000 grain weight
• Grain protein
(Tisdale et al., 1990)
Causes of low yield of maize
 Poor/Improper soil preparation
 Use of unapproved seed/variety
 Improper irrigation
 Weed infestation
 Insect attack
 Less or no appl. of manure
 The sub-optimal & imbalanced use of nutrients
(Ahmad and Muhammad, 1998)
Problems associated with sole application of
chemical fertilizers & organic manure
Chemical fertilizers
 Health hazards
 Role in global warming
 Salinity
 Expensive
 Shortage
 Losses
Organic manure
 Pathogen & weed seed
problem
 N leaching
 Expensive to transport & apply
 Carry imbalance amount of
nutrients
 Improper availability of
nutrients
 Adulteration
(Tolessa and Friesen, 2001)
(Oad et al, 2004)
Comparison b/w fresh & composted manure
Fresh manure
Composted manure
o More chance of leaching of No3
o Less chance of leaching of No3 (N)
o Higher dose is required
o Less amount can be applied
o Less conc. of nutrients.
o More conc. of nutrients
o Wider C: N ratio
o Narrow C: N ratio
o Pathogen cause health hazards
o Free from pathogen & weed seeds
o Less effective, economical &
o More effective, economical &
(Andraski et al., 2000 )
(Cooperband et al., 2002)
(N)
sustainable for both agriculture &
environment
sustainable for both agriculture &
environment
Sugar industry
• 2nd largest agro based industry.
• Thousand of tones of PrM produced annually cause great disposal
problems.
• Recently, it is being used as fertilizer. (Tandon, 1999)
• The higher amount of NPK in PrM hs made it valuable nutrient
source.
(Rakkiyappan et al., 2001)
• Use of PrM provides a feasible & cost effective disposal alternative.
(Nirmala and Sachan, 2002)
• It increases CEC for 30 months after its application.
(Rodella et al., 1990)
• And its residual effect remains four years.
(Viator et al., 2002)
Press-mud compost
PrM in the form of compost could be more effective as compare to fresh
form.
(Tandon, 1995)
It contains value-added nutrients of Rs. 2897/= when compared with
chemical fertilizer.
(Arain and Qamar, 2004)
PrM compost cut 25-50% use of the chemical fertilizers.
(Duran, 1993)
Addition of P is unnecessary & even potentially adverse, when the soil
receive 10 t PrM compost ha-1.
(Orlando et al., 1991)
Poultry industry
Commercial farms of Layer = 4632
Commercial farms of Broiler = 16489
Commercial farms of Breeding = 553
 Fastly growing industry
 Producing significant amount of waste
(Govt. of Pakistan, 2010-2011)
Poultry manure compost
It can supply,
N = 101 thousand tones
P2O5 = 58 thousand tones and
K2O = 26 thousand tones
(Bari, 2003)
It reduces environmental pollution associated with manure application.
It also increases the agronomic effectiveness of manure.
(Mahimairaja et al., 1995)
Application of composted PM provided 51.3% of N.
(Yan et al. 2002)
Higher P uptake is observed from PM compost as compare to fresh.
(Cooperband et al., 2002)
Digested PM enhanced the growth characteristics of maize plants.
(Adelekan et al., 2010)
Combine use of compost with chemical
fertilizer
Enriching of compost with nutrients increase its efficacy by enhancing the
nutrients %age.
It reduce the rates of organic manure to hundred kg ha-1 instead of t ha-1.
It can enhance the nutrient contents of compost and hence could be used at
rates as low as 300 kg ha-1 to increase maize production.
(Ahmad et al., 2008)
It appears to be a better alternative to using them in lower amounts of
enriched compost and inorganic N fertilizer to meet the crop N
requirements.
(Vinneras, 2007)
DAP + Compost performed better in boosting the maize growth parameters.
(Bibi et al., 2010)
Compost application (50 kg N ha-1) along with remaining required N through
fertilizer gave the highest maize grain yield.
(Jeyabal et al., 1998)
Use of compost (@ 5 t ha-1) with 50% N and P improved the physical &
chemical status particularly N & K content of the soil.
(Sanjeev et al., 2007)
Objectives
• To determine the comparative usefulness of composted manures in
increasing maize yield.
• To evaluate the impact of composted manure with & without chemical
fertilizer on the growth & yield of maize.
• To find out the astitute requirements of N for augmentation the crop
yield.
• To perform economic analysis for recommending an optimum dose of
N derived from either an organic or a chemical sources.
Materials & Methods
Trial 1: Effect of rate and source of
compost based organic material on the
production potential of autumn maize
(Zea mays L.)
Methodology
Design
:
Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)
Replications
:
3
Plot size
:
3mx6m
Crop
:
Autumn maize
Seed rate
:
30 kg ha-1
Recommended Fertilizer : 250: 125: 125 kg ha-1
Treatments:
T0 :
Control
T1 :
2 t ha-1 Poultry manure compost
T2 :
4 t ha-1 Poultry manure compost
T3 :
6 t ha-1 Poultry manure compost
T4 :
8 t ha-1 Poultry manure compost
T5 :
10 t ha-1 Poultry manure compost
T6 :
2 t ha-1 Press-mud compost
T7 :
4 t ha-1 Press-mud compost
T8 :
6 t ha-1 Press-mud compost
T9 :
8 t ha-1 Press-mud compost
T10:
10 t ha-1 Press-mud compost
Trial 2: Integrated management of
nitrogen for autumn maize (Zea mays
L.)
Treatments:
T0 :
Control
T1 :
100% N from Poultry manure compost
T2 :
75% N from Poultry manure compost + 25% N from Urea
T3 :
50% N from Poultry manure compost + 50% N from Urea
T4 :
25% N from Poultry manure compost + 75% N from Urea
T5 :
100% N from Press-mud compost
T6 :
75% N from Press-mud compost + 25% N from Urea
T7 :
50% N from Press-mud compost + 50% N from Urea
T8 :
25% N from Press-mud compost + 75% N from Urea
T9 :
100% N from Urea
Observations to be recorded
A. Yield related parameters:
1. Number of plants m-2 at harvest
2. Plant height at harvest (cm)
3. Cob weight (g)
4. Cob length (cm)
5. Cob diameter (cm)
6. Number of cobs per plant
7. Number of grain rows per cob
8. Number of grains per cob
9. Grain weight per cob (g)
10. 1000-grain weight (g)
11. Biological yield (t ha-1)
12. Grain yield (t ha-1)
B. Allometry:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Leaf area index (LAI)
Leaf area duration (LAD)
Crop growth ratio (g m-2 day-1)
Net assimilation rate (g m-2 day-1)
Harvest index (%)
C. Quality parameters:
1. Seed crude protein contents (%)
2. Seed starch contents (%)
3. Seed oil contents (%)
Statistical analysis
Data as regard to growth and yield contributing parameters will be
recorded at different stages. The data will be subjected to analyze
statistically using analysis of variance technique and treatment means
will be compared at 5% probability level.
(Steel et al., 1997)
Economical analysis
Economical analysis will also be conducted for all the treatments to
estimate the net income and benefit cost ratio. The purpose of this
analysis was to estimate the economic returns of each productivity
level.
(CIMMYT, 1988)
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