Tillage, Residue, Fertilizer and Weed Management on Phenology and Yield of Spring Maize in Terai, Nepal

Abstract

With the aim of developing crop management technologies that reduce the yield gap of maize (Zea mays L.) in Nepal, a study was carried-out to determine whether the grain yield of maize could be manipulated through tillage, residue, and nutrient and weed management practices. The effect of tillage (conventional and no tillage), residue (residue retained and residue removed), fertilizer (recommended doses of fertilizer and farmers' doses of fertilizer) and weed management practices (herbicide use and manual weeding) on phenology and grain yield of maize were investigated under maize-rice cropping system in Rampur, Nepal during 2013. The experimental results revealed that no tillage had significant effect on grain yield (6.64 Mg ha-1) and phenological parameters like days to silking, physiological maturity and seed fill duration. Similarly, residue retained treatment had significant effect on grain yield (7.02 Mg ha-1) and phenological parameters. Research dose of fertilizer had significant effect on phenological parameters and grain yield (8.42 Mg ha-1). However, weed management factor did not influence significantly on grain yield and phenological parameters. The grain yield increased in no tillage by 23.19% over conventional tillage, residue retained by 39.84% over residue removed, recommended doses of fertilizer by 132.60% over farmer dose of fertilizer. Thus, no tillage, residue retention, recommended doses of fertilizer and use of herbicide for weed management can be alternative technologies for sustainable higher grain yield.

Sustainable intensification of climate-resilient maize–chickpea system in semi-arid tropics through assessing factor productivity

“…Grain yield of maize was significantly higher in EI practice as it comprised all recommended agronomic practices which included conservation tillage, crop residue cover, optimum planting density, precision nutrient management, application of water at critical growth stages, integrated weed, disease, and insect compared to FP and other treatments which were deficit in one or another best crop management practices. Grain yield was significantly higher in residue cover in comparison with conventional tillage and residue removed 27 . But in the case of EI-IWM, grain yield was not significantly influenced by residue cover (Table 1 ).…”

Response of Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum L.) To Compost and Indole-3-Butyric Acid under Rainfed Conditions

“…It could also been resulted because of effect of compost in holding soil moisture. Dahal et al, (2014) reported that residue treated soil delayed in maturity of maize with the same justification given above and the significant increased soil water holding capacity and Vengadaramana and Jashothan (2012) reported that compost and cattle manure increased water retention in soil.…”

High-Resolution Mapping of Seasonal Crop Pattern Using Sentinel Imagery in Mountainous Region of Nepal: A Semi-Automatic Approach

“…This study established that the Sentinel-2 based dataset is useful for automatically tracking crop dynamics in small-scale farms with heterogeneous topography. Before this study, phenology estimation had been realized based on a field survey [33,34] or coarse resolution remote sensing data such as MODIS time-series data [24,35,36]. However, field observation is time and resource consuming; hence, it cannot be extended to a larger area.…”