Response of maize to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

A field experiment was conducted at College Farm, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari (Gujarat, India). The soil of the experimental field was clayey in texture and showed low, medium and high rating of available nitrogen (197.4 kg/ha), phosphorus (52.3 kg/ha) and potassium (481.4 kg/ha), respectively. The soil was found slightly alkaline (pH 7.8) with normal electric conductivity. Twelve treatment combinations consisting of three levels of nitrogen fertilizer i.e. N1 (nitrogen 120 kg/ha), N2 (nitrogen 150 kg/ha) and N3 (nitrogen 180 kg/ha), two levels of phosphorus fertilizer i.e. P1 (phosphorus 30 kg/ha) and P2 (phosphorus 60 kg/ha) and two levels of potassium fertilizer i.e. K1 (potassium 00 kg/ha), K2 (potassium 30 kg/ha) were tried in factorial randomized block design with three replications.On the basis of results obtained in present investigation, it can be concluded that hybrid maize (var. GAYMH 3) should be fertilized with 180 kg nitrogen/ha (50 % at basal, 25 % at knee high stage and 25 % at pre-flowering stage), 60 kg phosphorus/ha and 30 kg potassium/ha for getting higher yield and monetary returns under south Gujarat condition.