Effect of FYM and silicon on productivity of organic sweet corn (Zea mays saccharata)

Abstract

Sweet corn (Zea mays saccharata) under organic farming is becoming popular in India. Field experiment was conducted during 2019 and 2020 to investigate the effect of nitrogen through FYM and silicon on growth and yield of sweet corn under organic farming at Organic Farming Unit, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three replications and treatments consisted of four doses of recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) applied through farmyard manure (FYM), i.e. control, 100, 75 and 50% of RDN through FYM and four levels of silicon, i. e. control, 100, 150 and 200 kg silicon/ha. Significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation, leaf area index, cob length, number of grains/cob, green-cob yield, green fodder yield and biological yield of sweet corn were obtained with the application of 100% RDN through FYM followed by application of 75% RDN through FYM and silicon @ 200 kg/ha followed by application of silicon @ 150 kg/ha. Interaction effect of application of 100% RDN through FYM in combination with silicon @ 200 kg/ha recorded significantly higher green-cob yield in comparison to 100% RDN through FYM without silicon as well as at lower levels of silicon. Thus, it may be concluded that application of 100% RDN through FYM with integration of silicon @ 200 kg/ha gives better green-cob yield of sweet corn under organic farming.