TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring the Role of Zinc in Maize (Zea Mays L.) through Soil and Foliar Application

AU - Ehsanullah, null

AU - Tariq, Azeem

AU - Randhawa, Mahmood A.

AU - Anjum, Shakeel A.

AU - Nadeem, Mubashar

AU - Naeem, Muhammad

N1 - Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY): http://www.hrpub.org/journals/jour_copyright.php?id=4

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Maize (Zea mays L.) is considered as high nutrient demanding crop and needs balanced nutrition. It is also regarded sensitive to zinc deficiency. Zinc is mostly deficient in soils and application of zinc fertilizer is required to explore its full potential. Crop species and even cultivars within species vary in their Zn requirement. A field experiment was conducted during spring 2011 at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan to evaluate the comparative efficacy of Zn uptake and grain yield in three maize hybrids (Pioneer-32 F 10, Monsanto-6525 and Hycorn-8288) through the application of Zn in the form of ZnSO4. The ZnSO4 treatments comprised; soil application at the time of sowing @ 12 kg ha-1, foliar application at vegetative stage (9 leaf stage) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution and foliar application at reproductive stage (anthesis) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution and one treatment was kept as a control. The experimental results showed substantial difference in yield and yield contributing parameters such as plant population at harvest, number of grains per cob, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index. Statistically maximum grain yield (8.76t ha-1) was obtained with foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9-leaf stage (Zn2) in case of Monsanto-6525. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 increased 38% and soil application gave 23.7% more grain yield than control treatment. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9-leaf stage in Monsanto-6525 hybrid produced higher grain yield and net field benefit. Thus foliar application of Zn fertilizers has a positive effect on economic and biological yield of maize crop.

AB - Maize (Zea mays L.) is considered as high nutrient demanding crop and needs balanced nutrition. It is also regarded sensitive to zinc deficiency. Zinc is mostly deficient in soils and application of zinc fertilizer is required to explore its full potential. Crop species and even cultivars within species vary in their Zn requirement. A field experiment was conducted during spring 2011 at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan to evaluate the comparative efficacy of Zn uptake and grain yield in three maize hybrids (Pioneer-32 F 10, Monsanto-6525 and Hycorn-8288) through the application of Zn in the form of ZnSO4. The ZnSO4 treatments comprised; soil application at the time of sowing @ 12 kg ha-1, foliar application at vegetative stage (9 leaf stage) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution and foliar application at reproductive stage (anthesis) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution and one treatment was kept as a control. The experimental results showed substantial difference in yield and yield contributing parameters such as plant population at harvest, number of grains per cob, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index. Statistically maximum grain yield (8.76t ha-1) was obtained with foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9-leaf stage (Zn2) in case of Monsanto-6525. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 increased 38% and soil application gave 23.7% more grain yield than control treatment. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9-leaf stage in Monsanto-6525 hybrid produced higher grain yield and net field benefit. Thus foliar application of Zn fertilizers has a positive effect on economic and biological yield of maize crop.

U2 - 10.13189/ujar.2015.030301

DO - 10.13189/ujar.2015.030301

M3 - Journal article

VL - 3

SP - 69

EP - 75

JO - Universal Journal of Agricultural Research

JF - Universal Journal of Agricultural Research

SN - 2332-2268

IS - 3

ER -