Mulching Effects and Nitrogen Application on the Performance of Zea mays L: Crop Growth and Nutrient Accumulation

Oroka, Frank O.

doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILNS.51.36

ILNS > ILNS Volume 51 > Mulching Effects and Nitrogen Application on the...

< Back to Volume

Mulching Effects and Nitrogen Application on the Performance of Zea mays L: Crop Growth and Nutrient Accumulation

Full Text PDF

Abstract:

Maize is an agronomic cereal species that is sensitive to nutrient applications, especially nitrogen. Field experiments were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to evaluate the effect of nitrogen and mulching using dried weeds on maize growth and nutrient accumulation. The study was located in the Research Farm of the Agricultural Science Education Unit of the Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria ((latitude 5⁰ 46’N and longitude 6⁰ 5’E). The experiment consist of eight (8) treatments (i) control (ii) 40kgNha^-1 (iii) 80kgNha^-1 (iv) 120kgNha^-1 (v) 4.5t ha^-1 Panicum maximum + 40kgNha^-1 (vi) 4.5t ha^-1 Pueraria phaseoloides + 40kgNha^-1 (vii) 4.5t ha^-1 Eleusine indica + 40kgNha^-1 (viii) 4.5t ha^-1 Stylosanthes gracilis + 40kgNha^-1. The treatments were replicated three times. From research results, the combination of Pueraria phaseoloides with 40kgNha^-1 showed higher maize plant height, foliage development attributes, shoot dry matter, crop growth indices and nutrient uptake compared to other combinations, while only nitrogen application of 120kgNha^-1 recorded the highest in all the treatments. It can be concluded based on the results in this study, that legume based weeds as mulch can be supplemented with nitrogen to improve maize growth.

Info:

Periodical:

International Letters of Natural Sciences (Volume 51)

Pages:

36-42

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILNS.51.36

Citation:

F. O. Oroka, "Mulching Effects and Nitrogen Application on the Performance of Zea mays L: Crop Growth and Nutrient Accumulation", International Letters of Natural Sciences, Vol. 51, pp. 36-42, 2016

Online since:

February 2016

Authors:

Frank O. Oroka

Keywords:

Foliage, Maize, Mulching, Nutrient Uptake, Organic Residues

Export:

RIS, BibTeX, Text

Distribution:

Open Access

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:

[1] Abayomi, Y.A., Airejenja-George, A. and Kolawole, I. A (2006) Comparative leaf growth and grain yield responses of hybrid and open pollinated maize genotypes to nitrogen fertilizer application Agrosearch 8(1): 13-35.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/agrosh.v8i1.39435

[2] Ademiluyi, I.O. (2014) Adoption of improved maize varieties among farmers in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria International Journal of Innovative Agriculture & Biology Research 2 (4): 26-33.

[3] Akobundu, I.O. (1993) Integrated weed management techniques to reduce soil degradation IITA IITA Research 6: 11-16.

[4] Andrade, F.H. and Uhart, S.A. (1995) Nitrogen deficiency in maize (1): Effect of crop growth, development and dry matter partitioning and kernel set Crop Science 35: 1376-1383.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1995.0011183x003500050020x

[5] Anjorin, F.B. (2014) Comparative Growth and Grain Yield Response of Five Maize Varieties to Nitrogen Fertilizer Application Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences 3(12): 801-808.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15580/gjas.2013.3.060913818

[6] Bange M.P. (1995) Environmental control of potential yield of sunflower in a sub-tropical environment. PhD Thesis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

[7] Ehui, S.K., Spencer, D.S.C. (1994) Measuring the sustainability and economic viability of tropical farming systmes: A model from Sub-Saharan Africa IITA Research 9: 1-6.

[8] Fageria N.K. (2004) Dry matter yield and shoot nutrient concentrations of upland rice, common bean, corn, and soybean grown in rotation on an Oxisol. Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 35: 961-974.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1081/css-120030572

[9] Gehl R.J., Schimdt J.P., Maddux L. D, Gordon W.B. (2005). Corn yield response to nitrogen rate and timing in sandy irrigated soils. Agron.J., 97: 1230-1238.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2004.0303

[10] Kehinde, J.K. (1999) Maize development at the National Cereals Research Institute In: Valencia, J.A.M., S. Miko and S.G. Ado Proceedings of the National Maize Workshop, p.62.

[11] Memon, M., K. S. Memon, S. Mirani, and G. M. Jamro (2012) Comparative evaluation of organic wastes for improving maize growth and NPK content African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 11(39): 9343-9349.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb12.004

[12] Mokhtarpour, Hassan; Christopher B.S. ; Teh, Ghizan Saleh; Ahmad B. Selamat; Mohammad E. Asadi; Behnam Kamkar (2010).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2010.499901

[13] Palanisamy, K.M. and Gomez, K.A. (1974) Length width method for estimating leaf area of rice Agronomy Journal 66: 430-433.

[14] Skowrońska, M. and T. Filipek (2010) Accumulation Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus By Maize As The Result Of A Reduction In The Potassium Fertilization Rate Ecological Chenistry and Engineering 17(1): 83-88.

[15] Tian, G.; Kang, B.T., Brussaard, L. (1994) Mulching effect of plant residues with chemically contrasting compositions on maize growth and nutrients accumulation IITA Research 9: 7-10.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00012990

[16] Vos,J., P.E.L. van der Putten; C.J. Birch (2005)Effect of nitrogen supply on leaf appearance, leaf growth, leaf nitrogen economy and photosynthetic capacity in maize (Zea mays L. ) Field Crops Research 93: 64–73.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2004.09.013

[17] Watson, D.J. (1948) The dependence of net assimilatory rate on leaf index Annals of Botany 22: 37-54.

[18] Williams, R.F. (1946) Physiology of plant growth with reference to the concept of net assimilatory rate Annals of Botany 10: 41-72.

Show More Hide

Cited By:

This article has no citations.