Grain Yield and Yield Components Response to Omission of Nutrients on Maize (Zea Mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

The nutrient supply capacity of a soil varies with soil types as well as with farmers’ crop management practices. Yet fertilizer application in Ethiopia is based on regional recommendations, which do not take in to account the variability in soil types as well as farmers’ crop management practices. Thus, site specific fertilizer recommendation that considers soil variability and difference in farmers’ crop management practices is quite important. A field experiment was conducted with an objective to identify which of macronutrients N, P and K are limiting maize grain and yield components in the study area during 2017/18 cropping season. The experiments were laid out in a completely randomized block design with six treatments replicated across six farmers’ fields in Kersa district, Jimma zone, south western Ethiopia. The trial consisted of six treatments, which include the unfertilized control, PK, NK, NP, NPK and NPK+. Maize grain yield was the highest for the NPK treatment followed by NPK+ treatment but lowest for the unfertilized control and N omitted plots. The magnitude of grain yield reduction due to nutrient omission followed the trend of N omission> P omission> K omission. In the absence of N, P, and K maize grain yields were significantly lower compared to that of NPK and NPK+ treatments. From among the different treatments, NPK gave the highest grain yield(9185 kg ha^-1), while the control treatment gave the lowest grain yield (1861.3 kg ha^-1).Grain yield levels obtained for different fertilizer treatments were ranked as NPK > NPK+>NP>PK>NK, illustrating that N deficiency was the most yield limiting nutrient followed by P and K in that order. Therefore, the use of appropriate balanced fertilizers should be used for efficient nutrient uptake which ultimately increases maize productivity.

Keywords: Maize, Nitrogen, Nutrient omission, Phosphorus, Potassium

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-8-04

Publication date:August 31^st 2021