Evaluation of late maturity maize (Zea mays) hybrids under varying plant density and nutrient levels

Abstract

Productivity of maize is influenced by selection of hybrids or improved varieties, plant population, nutrient management practices etc. These technological interventions may vary across locations. Therefore, two-year investigation was conducted during Rabi, 2019-21 at Department of Millets, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India to evaluate the performance of late maturity maize hybrids under varying plant density and nutrient levels. The experiments were laid out in a split-split plot design replicated thrice. In the main plot, two plant densities viz., 60×25 cm and 60×20 cm spacing and in the sub plot, three nutrient levels viz., 100% RDF (250:75:75 NPK kg/ha), 90% RDF (225:68:68 NPK kg/ha) and STCR-IPNS (131:38:38 NPK kg/ha) and in the sub-sub plot, four late maturity maize hybrids viz., CMH12-686, CMH15-005, COH (M) 6 and NK6240 were tried. Based on the results of two years of experimentation, it is concluded that among the late maturity maize hybrids, CMH15-005 and CMH12-686 were found to be the most promising hybrids under a spacing of 60×20 cm with application of 100% recommended dose of fertilizer @250:75:75 NPK kg/ha. In future, these late maturity hybrids should be grown with the recommended spacing and nutrient level to achieve desirable productivity in maize.