Vol. 10, Issue 9 (2021)

Author(s):
Prabhat Ranjan, Dharminder, Sandeep SN, Purushottam Dev, Devilal Birla, Kanhaiya Lal and SP Singh

Abstract:
A field experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2019-20 to assess the influence of different level of calcium and potassium thiosulphate on growth, yield and yield attributing characters of maize (Zea mays L.) at Crop Research Centre, RPCAU, Pusa, Bihar. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with four replications and twelve treatments at different level of calcium and potassium thiosulphate @ 0, 15, 30 & 60 L/ha were applied according to treatments. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were applied as urea, urea phosphate and potassium sulphate in all the treatments, respectively. In treatments T₁ to T₇, the Calcium and potassium thiosulphate were applied through drip, while in treatment T₈ to T₁₂ calcium and potassium thiosulphate were applied as band placement along with potassium sulphate. The experimental results indicated that treatment T₇ (150:75:38 N-P₂O₅-K₂O kg/ha + 30 L CaTS/ha + 30 L KTS/ha- Drip) produced significantly higher weight of cobs plant^-1 (150.1 g), weight of grains cob^-1 (121.6 g), weight of stones cob^-1 ((21.3 g) and 100-grain weight (32 g), maximum grain yield (9063.0 kg ha^-1), stover yield (7951.3 kg ha^-1) and stone yield (1591.7 kg ha^-1). Economics of different treatments indicated that by higher grain yield, treatment T₇ (150:75:38 N-P₂O₅-K₂O kg/ha + 30 L CaTS/ha + 30 L KTS/ha- Drip) exhibited maximum gross return, net return and B:C ratio of ₹ 184163 ha^-1, ₹ 124905 ha^-1 and 2.11 respectively.