Growth and yield of baby corn (Zea mays L.) As influenced by zinc fertilization

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on sandy clay loam soil at College farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during kharif, 2016 on “Effect of zinc fertilization on growth, yield and quality of baby corn (Zea mays L.)”. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design consisting of twelve treatments and replicated thrice. In the present experiment significantly higher corn yield (1630 kg ha-1), cob yield (6550 kg ha-1), husk yield (4920 kg ha-1), dry matter yield (10855 kg ha-1) and green fodder yield (27.76 t ha-1) was recorded with soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + foliar spray of ZnSO4 @ 0.2% at 25 DAS and at 40 DAS on account of significantly higher plant height (138.27 cm), leaf:stem ratio (0.309), SPAD chlorophyll meter readings (49.09), and leaf area index (4.35). Increasing level of zinc application had a marked effect on all the growth characters and yields. Each increment of zinc application correspondingly improved growth attributes, corn yield, cob yield, husk yield, dry matter yield and green fodder yield.