The effect of N fertilizer rates on agronomic parameters, yield components and yields of maize grown on Alfisols of North-western Ethiopia

Yihenew G Selassie

doi:10.1186/s40068-015-0048-8

Abstract

Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for crop growth and development; and as in most soils of Ethiopia, the soils of the study area are deficient in nitrogen. Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the effects of mineral N fertilizer rates on agronomic parameters, yield components and yields of maize grown on Alfisols of Northwestern Ethiopia. Analysis of variance indicated no significant variation among treatments (p > 0.05) in plant height, shelling percentage and 1000-grain weight. However, nitrogen fertilizer rates significantly (p < 0.05) affected kernel number per ear and number of ears per plant. All the yield parameters have also shown a significant increase up to the rate of 90 kg N ha−1. Increasing the N rate from 90 to 200 kg N ha−1, however, did not give a significant grain, dry stubble and dry aboveground biomass yields increase. The MRR analysis showed that the treatment with N fertilizer rate of 60 kg N ha−1 gave the highest MRR of 256.7 % followed by the treatment with N fertilizer rate of 90 kg N ha−1. From the results of the study it is possible to conclude that application of nitrogen fertilizer improves yield and yield components of maize. Moreover, judicious nutrient management in maize could ensure high grain yield production and profit. Application of 60 kg N ha−1 gave maximum profit from unit investment which can be recommended for the study area.

Highlights

Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for crop growth and development; and as in most soils of Ethiopia, the soils of the study area are deficient in nitrogen
The effect of nitrogen fertilizer rates agronomic properties Plant height Analysis of variance of the data collected from 20 locations (80 replications) indicated that there was significant variation (p < 0.05) among treatments at all stages of plant height measurements (Table 2)
When treatments were compared using Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT), application of 90 kg N ha−1 was the rate that gave the highest significant plant height measured at all stages

Summary

Introduction

Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for crop growth and development; and as in most soils of Ethiopia, the soils of the study area are deficient in nitrogen. The objective of this research was to study the effects of mineral N fertilizer rates on agronomic parameters, yield components and yields of maize grown on Alfisols of Northwestern Ethiopia. As in other soils of Ethiopia, nitrogen is probably more often deficient than any other essential element in Alfisols, mainly because organic matter of these soils is not preserved (Mesfin 1998). The cereal dominated cropping systems, aimed at meeting the Selassie Environ Syst Res (2015) 4:21 farmers’ subsistence requirements, coupled with low usage of chemical fertilizers have led to the widespread depletion of soil nitrogen in the maize growing areas of Ethiopia. The heavy rains during the early part of the main cropping season (June–August) cause substantial soil nutrient losses due to intensive leaching and erosion (Amsal and Tanner 2001)

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Conclusion