Abstract
Use of inorganic fertilizers have some problems to farmers in terms of high cost and short residual effect. Since use of organic fertilizers have a long residual effect but the nutrient requirement of crops is not fulfill in one season. So, using of combination of different organic manures can not only improve soil properties but also fulfill the nutrients requirement of crops. Therefore, a study was carried out aiming use of combinations of organic manures to improve maize yield and quality at the Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI), Pirsabak District Nowshera, KP, Pakistan during Kharif 2016. Poultry Manure (PM) and Humic Acid (HA) combinations were used as treatments including T1=Control, T2=2.5 tons PM ha-1+5 kg HA ha-1, T3=5 tons PM ha-1+4 kg HA ha-1, T4=7.5 tons PM ha-1+3 kg HA ha-1, T5=10 tons PM ha-1+2 kg HA ha-1 and T6=12.5 tons PM ha-1+1 kg HA ha-1. A basic dose of NPK was applied at the rate of 60:40:30 kg N, P and K ha-1. The results showed that highest days number to tasseling (55) and to silking (56) were recorded when PM and HA were applied at the rate of 12.5 tons PM ha-1+1 kg HA ha-1 as compared with control plots. Highest plant height (185.33 cm), leaf area (411.26 cm2), cob length (17.0 cm), grains number cob-1 (413), grain yield (4783.3 kg ha-1), 1000 grain weight (413 g) and stover yield (13197 kg ha-1) were produced when PM and HA were applied at the rate of 12.5 tons PM ha-1 and 1 kg HA ha-1 as compared with the control plots. It is recommended that use of HA and PM in blending not only improves crop yield but also has a long term residual effect and improve soil properties as well.
Highlights
Maize botanically called Zea mays L. belongs to the family Poaceae
The results revealed that all of the paramaters are significantly affected by differences in the levels of Humic Acid (HA) and Poultry Manure (PM) (Table 2)
Similar is the case with leaf area, cob length, grains cob, 1000 grain weight, stover yield and grain yield, all of them were giving high values when applied HA and PM at 1 kg+12.5 kg ha-1
Summary
Maize botanically called Zea mays L. belongs to the family Poaceae. It is thought that PM and HA are the small reservoir of N, but is in a very stable form which assists as slow releasing N fertilizer. Various micronutrients are present in HA that are chelated by that HA [2]. PM makes the soil porous and improve water holding capacity. These chelates (HA and PM) can adjust the supply of micronutrients and promoting the activity of microorganisms in soil [3].
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