Evaluation of Various Commercially Available Biofertilizers on Grain Yield of Hybrid Maize under Field Conditions at South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on a farmer’s field in Gowa, South Sulawesi, Indonesia from 6th April to 18th July 2013. Texturally, the soil was a silt loam with pH of 5.2, 1.07% organic matter, 0.12% total nitrogen, 41.60 mg kg-1 available phosphorus and 0.75 mg kg-1 available potassium. The experiment was aimed to evaluate the application of commercially available bio fertilizers on hybrid maize CV. Bima 19 URI grain yield in comparison with conventional fertilizers and control. The experiment included of 16 treatments i.e. no fertilizer as control; recommended dose (230 N+ 36 P2O5 + 60 K20 kg ha-1); 50% recommended dose(115 N+18P2O5 + 30 K20 kg ha-1); 50% recommended dose (115 N+18P2O5 + 30 K20 kg ha-1) + compost 2 t ha-1; 70% recommendation dose (172.5 N+ 22.5 P2O5 + 60 K20) kg ha-1;75% recommendation dose (172.5 N+ 22.5 P2O5 + 60 K20 kg ha-1) + compost 2 t ha-1; compost 2 t ha-1; plus 9 commercially bio fertilizers such as Beyonic; Bio-Padjar; Probio-New; Super Biost; Bion-UP; Bio-SRF; Agrofit; Biopim and Biocoat. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design arrangement with three replications. The result of the experiment showed that bio fertilizer significantly influenced leaf chlorophyll; NPK leaves levels, plant height, kernel row, ear length, 1000 grains yield and grain yield. The highest grain yield was obtained with Bio-Padjar 10.06 t ha-1 followed by Beyonic 10.04 t ha-1, Biopim 9.96 t ha-1, Bion-UP 9.82 t ha-1, Super Biost 9.80 t ha-1, Biocoat 9.77t ha-1, Agrofit 9.76 t ha-1, and Probio-New 9.73 t ha-1. Contribution of biofertilizers increased grain yield vary in ranged from 5.83 – 8.52% and reduce 25 - 50% chemical fertilizer recommendation dose.