Abstract
Field studies were conducted at the teaching and research farm of the Osun State University Ejigbo Campus, Osun State, Nigeria, during the 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons to determine the agronomic performance of low N maize varieties under two nitrogen conditions (low and high). The aim of this experiment was to determine the response of low N maize to two levels of nitrogen fertilizer. Ten low N maize varieties were used in this study. Low and high-N conditions of the soil was induced by application of urea fertilizer at the rate of 30 and 90kg ha-1 of nitrogen .The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. High nitrogen application significantly improved maize vegetative growth, yield components and grain yield. The use of 90 kg ha-1 of N gave the highest maize plant height, and number of leaves per plant, as well as grain yields of 3.50 and 3.58 tha-1 was obtained with the application of 90 kg ha-1 of N in 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons, respectively. The result indicated that application rates of nitrogen (kg ha-1 of N) improved growth attributes of all the varieties with SINT MAR 20CA LARGA gave maximum grain yield that is not significantly different from 72PBPROLC3SYN. Key words: Plant height, agronomic performance, low N maize, nitrogen levels.
Highlights
Most Africans depend on maize as their stable food (Bänziger and Diallo, 2001) to feed both rural and urban dwellers
Maize vegetative growth parameters assessed at flowering showed that plant height, number of leaves per plant was significantly higher in 90kgNha-1 than 30 kgNha-1 in both seasons (Table 4)
In 90kgNha-1 kgN/ha, SINT MAR 20CA LARGA and 72PB PROL C3 SYN had the highest number of leaf in both season with 15.5, 14.5, 12.44 and 14.9 respectfully
Summary
Most Africans depend on maize as their stable food (Bänziger and Diallo, 2001) to feed both rural and urban dwellers. Maize cultivation in the tropics is seriously threatened by low nitrogen in the soil which causes low production in yield. Soil fertility problem constitutes a serious constraint to maize food production. Out of the essential soil nutrients, nitrogen is the most limiting factor (Fakorede et al, 2003)
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