Precision Nutrient Management through Use of LCC and Nutrient Expert® in Hybrid Maize under Laterite Soil of India

Abstract

Nutrient management has played a crucial role in achieving self sufficiency in food grain production. Energy crisis resulted in high price index of chemical fertilizers. Coupled with limited production of fertilizer along with escalating fertilizer cost, reduced soil health and the problem of pollution gave rise to interest in precision nutrient management tools. Field experiment was conducted to study the effect of variety and nutrient management on the growth and productivity of maize under lateritic belt of West Bengal during kharif season of 2013 at the farmers' field located in Birbhum district of West Bengal, on sandy loam lateritic soil having low fertility status and acidic reaction (pH5.6). The experiment consisted of the five levels of fertilizer i.e, F1 = control, F2 = state recommendation (150:75:75 kg N:P 2 O 5 :K 2 O ha-1), F3= Nutrient Expert ® (120:34:51 kg N:P 2 O 5 :K 2 O ha-1), F4=farmers practices (80:40:40 kg N:P 2 O 5 :K 2 O ha-1), and F5= Basal application of 50:75:75 kg N:P 2 O 5 :K 2 O ha-1 with split N application on basis of LCC, and two level of varieties viz.,V1= Rajkumar,V2= Sona, thus making ten treatment combinations, which were replicated thrice and was laid out in randomized block design(RBD). The "Nutrient Expert ® " is a Decision support tool developed by IPNI (International Plant Nutrition Institute) & CIMMYT, Mexico. The values for growth parameter like plant height, dry matter, cob characters like length of cob, girth of cob, weight of cob, number of cobs per plant, number of grains per cob, grain yield, stover yield, harvest index were observed. It was found that the growth parameter as well as yield component and yield were significantly affected by different varieties and different levels of fertilizer. Among the two hybrid varieties, Rajkumar proved significantly superior over hybrid variety Sona with regard to growth attributes like plant height, dry matter accumulation. The result indicated that different schedules of fertilizer expressed significant effect on plant height, cob girth and length, grain per cob, grain weight per cob, test weight, Maize grain yield and stover yield at harvest. It was found that where fertilizer was applied on the basis of "Nutrient expert" recommendation gave highest yield and yield parameter values. The highest values for agronomic efficiency, physiological efficiency and recovery efficiency were also found where fertilizer was applied on the basis of "Nutrient expert ® " recommendation. Thus, it was observed that the application of nutrient on the basis of recommendation obtained from the decision support system like "Nutrient expert ® " and LCC based application proved superior over farmer's practice as well as State recommendation where much higher dose of nutrients were applied. So, it may be concluded that the "Nutrient expert" based recommendation and cultivation of Rajkumar hybrid may be helpful in improving productivity and profitability of Maize cultivation in the Laterite soils of West Bengal, India .