Effects of plant spacing and nitrogen level on the green fodder yield of maize (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during December 2016 to February 2017 to investigate the effect of plant spacing and nitrogen level on growth parameters and green fodder yield of maize (Zea mays L.). The experiment comprised three plant spacings viz., 35 cm × 10 cm, 35 cm × 20 cm, 35 cm × 30 cm and three nitrogen levels viz., 100, 150 and 200 kg N ha^-1. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results revealed that plant spacing, nitrogen levels and their interaction had significant effect on growth parameters and green fodder yield. The tallest plant (192.5 cm) was obtained at plant spacing  35 cm × 30 cm, while the highest fodder yield (61.13 t ha ^-1) of Z. mays was recorded  at  35 cm × 10 cm spacing. In case of nitrogen level, the tallest plant (204.9 cm), the highest number of leaves plant ^-1 (12.22), the highest chlorophyll content in leaves (41.50) and the highest fodder yield (70.38 t ha ^-1) of Z. mays were recorded in 200 kg N ha^-1. In case of interaction, the tallest plant (218.4 cm) of Z. mays was produced at spacing 35 cm × 30 cm along with 200 kg N ha^-1. The highest fodder yield (78.01 t ha ^-1) of Z. mays was obtained at spacing 35 cm × 10 cm fertilized with 200 kg N ha^-1 which was at par with spacing 35 cm × 20 cm fertilized with 200 kg N ha^-1 and the lowest fodder yield (31.91 t ha ^-1) was obtained at spacing 35 cm × 30 cm along with 100 kg N ha^-1. Therefore, spacing 35 cm × 10 cm fertilized with 200 kg N ha^-1 appears as the promising practice for maize cultivation as fodder crop.