Evaluation of improved nutrient management in yield and economics of hybrid maize in Jhapa, Nepal

Abstract

As a second most widely planted cereal crop in Nepal, Maize (Zea mays) productivity is highly affected by improper fertilization techniques. Generic but flexible and location-specific fertilizer recommendation method is necessary to improve the yield gaps. Hence, a field experiment was conducted on farmer’s field at Garamani, Jhapa using Nutrient Expert® hybrid maize model from March to August 2016 using 3 treatments viz. Nutrient Expert (NE), Farmer Fertilizer practices (FFP) and Government Recommendations (GR) replicated 7 times in RCBD design. The result revealed significant difference in terms of plant number ha-1, cob numberha-1, number of row per cob, length per cob, number of kernel per kernel row, test weight, yield at 15.5% moisture, partial and total factor productivity and benefit cost ratio. The highest yield (7.61tonha-1), revenue, benefit cost ratioand profitwas obtained from NE followed by GR yield (6.55tonha-1) and FFP (6.43tonha-1).