Appropriate tillage practices and mulch application are needed for sustainable crop production without affecting soil physical health and the environment. Tillage and mulch effects were studied on maize for two years from 2002 to 2003. Crop grain yield and growth parameters including plant height, dry biomass, 1000-grain weight and soil physical properties (water use efficiency, bulk density, total porosity and field saturated hydraulic conductivity) were measured. Maize yields and growth components were significantly affected by tillage and mulch application. Taller plants, greater dry biomass, grain yield and grain weight were obtained under tilled (minimum, conventional and deep tillage) than ZT (zero tillage) plots. Similar trends were found regarding mulch application. Tillage and mulch significantly affected soil physical properties in most cases except for soil bulk density which was not affected by tillage in both years. Total porosity, soil K,, and WUE were significantly and positively affected by both tillage and mulch as higher values were observed under tilled and mulched plots compared with ZT and without mulch. Maize shoot N concentration was not affected by tillage in both years, whereas mulch effect on shoot N was significant in only one year.

To cite this paper: Kamran, M., Z.A. Cheema, M. Farooq and A.U. Hassan, 2016. Influence of foliage applied allelopathic water extracts on the grain yield, quality and economic returns of hybrid maize. AbstractAllelochemicals at low concentrations can promote the crop growth and productivity. In this study, allelopathic extracts of sorghum, maize, rice and moringa each at 3% were applied alone and in various combinations at 30 and 50 days after sowing (DAS) of maize crop. No spray and water spray were included as controls for comparison. Application of allelopathic extracts significantly improved plant height, number of grains and grain rows per cob, number of grains per row, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, protein, starch, oil and leaf chlorophyll contents of maize as compared to control during both the years of study. Maximum increase in grains per cob, grain rows per cob, 1000-grain weight, grain number and grain yield (35%) was noted by combined application of sorghum and moringa water extracts. Economic analysis revealed that combination of sorghum and moringa extracts was the most economical followed by combination of maize and moringa extracts and moringa extract alone. In conclusion, sorghum and moringa extract combination at 3% may be foliage applied for harvesting better maize yield of good quality with comparatively higher economic returns.

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Little information is available on the role of optimized application of irrigation and N on crop N recovery and NO3-N build up and movement in soil profile. A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of irrigation and N management practices on wheat yield, water and fertilizer use efficiency and NO3-N distribution in soil. The treatments included were three levels of irrigation; 0.7, 1.0 and 1.3% of the estimated evapo-transpiration (ETc) and four levels of N; 0, 110, 160 and 210 kg N ha -1 in split plot design. The N was applied either in two splits (50% at sowing + 50% at maximum tillering) or three splits (50% at sowing + 25% at maximum tillering + 25% at spike initiation). Nitrogen applied at 110 kg ha -1 in three splits produced higher wheat yield, N recovery and water use efficiency (WUE) than two splits. Further, application of N in three splits had considerably lesser accumulation of NO3-N in soil as compared to two splits. A significant irrigation effect was observed on grain yield, N recovery and WUE. The highest levels were achieved with water application according to crop water requirement (1.0 ETc). The deficit irrigation produced significantly lower grain yield (3.15 t ha ). Deficit irrigation resulted in higher build up of NO3-N in surface soil. In contrast, excessive irrigation resulted in greater concentration of NO3-N in lower depths of soil. The results from this research show that there is great potential for decreasing N leaching and increasing wheat crop yield and N use efficiency thorugh controlled irrigation and N application according to crop demand.