Abstract

Maize an important cereal is highly influenced by nitrogen application. Moreover, non-judicious use of nitrogenous fertilizer is not only costly but also harmful to agroecosystem. Considering the above facts, a field experiment was designed at the Agriculture Farm of Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha, India during summer of 2020–21 to find out the impact of nitrogen management on growth and productivity of maize. The experiment was consisted of eight treatments, namely, 150% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN), 125% RDN, 100% RDN, 75% RDN, 50% RDN, leaf colour chart (LCC) based application and Control. The treatments were laid out in completely randomized block design (CRBD) with three replications. The maize hybrid considered was Bioseed 9544. The treatment with 150% RDN recorded superior results in terms of yield attributes, viz., number of cobs per plant (1.7), length of the cob (17.5 cm), weight of the cob (180.6 g), cob girth (48.6 mm), grain per cob (356.6) and 100 seed weight (22.1 g). Also, the treatment showed better results in terms of grain yield (7.95 t/ha), nutrient content in grain and straw (1.61 and 0.51), nitrogen uptake and available nitrogen in post-harvest soil. The treatment comprised of LCC based nitrogen application also resulted in better performance in expression of all the parameters, but it was statistically at par with 150% RDN and 125% RDN. The results clearly indicate that nitrogen optimization in maize can be done by using precision tool (LCC) to obtain optimum yield and nutrient uptake by the crop.