Assessment of Nutriseed Pack Technology on Maize in Cuddalore District
Abstract
On Farm Trail was conducted in five locations of Mangalore and Nallore Block of Cuddalore District to assess the 'Nutriseed pack' technique on maize. Nutriseed pack is a small tubular form that is 20 mm diameter, 10 cm height. Nutriseed pack contains seed at top, manure in the middle and fertilizer at bottom. The experiment consisted of three treatments viz., Farmer practice (TO1), recommended dose of fertilizer (TO2) and Nutriseed Pack (TO3) The results revealed that, the grain yield recorded with different treatment ranged between 65.44 to 74.00 q ha-1. Among the technologies, Nutriseed pack (TO3) was recorded more yield of 74.00 q ha-1 (13.08% increased yield over control) than that of 71.92 q ha-1 recommended dose of fertilizer applied in the field followed by farmers practice (65.44 q ha-1). Similar trend of results were also observed in yield parameters. Enrichment of manure pellet and fertilizer that is Nutriseed pack was effective when compared to other technologies.
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Introduction
After rice and wheat, maize is the third most important field crop in India. It accounts for ~9 percent of total food grain production in the country. Maize has three growing seasons in India, viz., Kharif, Rabi and Spring. Fertilizers play an important role in increasing the maize yield to the tune of 40-45 percent over unfertilized crop. Normally fertilizers are broadcasted. Many times, straight fertilizers are used as the source of nutrients. Application of straight fertilizer leads to loss of nutrient through leaching and volatilization. In order to manage these losses split application is recommended for soluble fertilizers especially for urea and muriate of potash. Now a days, newly emerging technology namely “Nutriseed Pack Technique” is developed in the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore. This technology reduces the nutrient losses in the soil. Hence, Nutriseed pack technique helps in improving the nutrient use efficiency and yield. The present study was carried out to assess Nutriseed pack technology on maize in Cuddalore District.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that nutrient support is provided by Nutriseed pack to the highest extent to the plant in the root zone. Weeds have less chance to tap the nutrients from Nutriseed Pack. Slow release of nutrients support the crop throughout the cropping period and results in higher yields. The Nutriseed pack technique has shown better result than any other fertilizer placement or application because of pelleted form as well as point placement and also has proven to reduce the fertilizer dose and increase the fertilizer use efficiency. Hence, Nutriseed pack technology was found to be a novel way of achieving high yield in hybrid maize.