Response of phosphorus application on yield, quality and economics of sweet corn (Zea mays L. Saccharata) varieties

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2016 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Allahabad, (U.P.). The soil of experimental site was sandy loam in texture, nearly neutral in soil reaction (pH 6.7), low in organic carbon (0.35%), available N (230 kg ha-1), available P (20 kg ha-1) and available K (189 kg ha-1). The treatment consisted 5 levels of Phosphorus viz. P1 (40 kg P2O5 ha-1), P2 (50 kg P2O5 ha-1), P3 (60 kg P2O5 ha-1) P4 (70 kg P2O5 ha-1) and P5 (80 kg P2O5 ha-1) and two varieties of sweet corn viz. V1 (Sweet Glory) and V2 (Sweety). This experiment includes 10 treatments which were laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The result revealed that green cob yield (5.32 t ha-1) and green fodder yield (13.45 t ha-1) were recorded maximum in ‘sweety’ variety in treatment T8 (Sweety + 60 kg P2O5 ha-1). These parameters were significantly influenced by application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1as DAP. However, quality parameters viz., protein content (%) and sucrose content (%) were found to be non- significant but these were numerically superior in T8 (Sweety + 60 kg P2O5 ha-1). The same treatment i.e., T8 (Sweety + 60 kg P2O5 ha-1) recorded maximum net return of 80228.00 and B.C. ratio 2.77.