Impact of sowing windows and fertility levels on growth and yield of winter maize inNorthern Transitional Zone of Karnataka

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the response of winter maize to sowing windows and fertility levelsat the Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka on medium to deepblack soils during 2019-20. The experiment comprised of two factors, viz., five windows of sowing and three fertility levelsand was laid out in randomized complete block design with factorial concept with three replications. Planting of wintermaize during first week of October recorded significantly higher grain yield (87.87 q ha-1) and stover yield (122.0 q ha-1)and was found on par with sowing during second week of October. Among fertility levels, significantly higher grain yield(83.20 q ha -1) and stover yield (119.5 q ha-1) were recorded with application of 200 % recommended dose of fertilizer andwas found on par with application of 150 % recommended dose of fertilizer. In treatment combinations, higher grain yield(91.42 q ha-1) and stover yield (130.5 q ha-1) were during first week of October with application of 200 % recommended doseof fertilizer and was found on par with sowing during second week of October along with application of 200 % recommendeddose of fertilizer and sowing during first week of October with application of 150 % recommended dose of fertilizer. Similartrend was observed with respect to growth viz., plant height, leaf area per plant, leaf area index, absolute growth rate, cropgrowth rate and total dry matter production and yield attributes viz., cob length, cob girth, number of grain rows per cob andtest weight. Economic analysis showed that planting of wintermaize during first week of October with application of 150 %recommended dose of fertilizer recorded significantly higher gross returns (163646 ha-1) and net returns ( 99,121 ha-1) ascompared to all other treatment combinations.