Morpho-physiological responses of baby corn to varied irrigation and sowing strategies

Introduction

Maize (Corn) a species of family Poaceace, known for its versatility and multipurpose use is termed as queen of cereals due to its tremendous potentiality. "Since its domestication some 9,000 years ago, maize (Zea mays L.) has played an increasing and diverse role in global agri-food systems" (Erenstein, 2022). It holds second position under most widely cultivated crop in the world. USA produces more than 40% of maize, China, Brazil, Mexico Indonesia and India succeeds it by producing 20%, 6.3%, 2.5%, 2.2% and 2% of maize grain respectively. It can be cultivated in diversified types. Among the product of diversified maize one important type is Baby corn which refers to young, immature cobs harvested before full maturation, typically when they are 4-10cm long. It is grown from specific maize varieties, often hand-picked early to ensure tenderness. The ears of Baby corn are light creamy in color and have a uniform arrangement of ovary. The nutritional content per 100 g of edible Baby corn includes 8.2 g carbohydrates, 1.9 g protein, 28 mg calcium, 86 mg phosphorus, 0.1 mg iron, 0.5 mg thiamine, 0.08 mg riboflavin, and 11 mg vitamin C (Jinjala et al., 2016) [3] . Besides, as it is wrapped in husk at the time of harvesting, it also free of residues from agrochemicals. Moreover it has a short crop duration which makes it fit to be cultivated in any cropping system. However just like Maize it is sensitive to water. Thus, irrigation scheduling-particularly when based on evapotranspiration (ET)-plays a critical role in supplying crops with the precise amount of water they need, thereby enhancing water-use efficiency. When combined with timely sowing, it optimizes the use of all resources and boosts crop productivity. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the morphophysiological responses of the crop under varying irrigation schedules and sowing dates.

Materials and Methods

A field experiment was carried out during rabi 2024-25 at the Postgraduate experimental field (Lat.: 26°72´52´´, Long.: 93°13´54´´) in Biswanath College of Agriculture, AAU. The soil was sandy loam, extremely acidic in reaction (4.30), high in organic carbon (0.76%), medium in available Nitrogen (283.43 kg ha -1 ) and low in available phosphorus (21.60 kg ha - 1 ) and potassium (120.9 kg ha -1 ) and has high infiltration rate of 3.98 cm hr -1 . During the period of experimentation (October-March), the total rainfall received was 708 mm. Maximum amount of rainfall was concentrated in the month of October. The average maximum and minimum temperature recorded was 26.59 ℃ and 14.18 ℃ respectively while the average BSSH received was 0.16 hr day -1 . The study involved four (4) schedules of irrigation viz., I 1: Rainfed (Control), I 2: IW/CPE = 0.5, I 3: IW/CPE = 0.8, and I 4: IW/CPE = 1.0 and four (4) dates of sowing viz., S 1: 20 th October, S 2 :5 th November, S 3: 20 th November and S 4: 5 th December; laid in split-plot design where irrigation schedules were assigned to the main plots and sowing dates to the sub-plots and replicated three times. The variety of Baby corn cultivated was G-5414 which was a male sterile line. Irrigation scheduling was done using ET based method i.e., IW/CPE approach. The depth of irrigation water was 30 mm and was measured using volumetric method. Plant height was measured using a meter scale from base of the plant to the tip of folded leaf. To weigh the plant, it was chopped and sun dried for two days and then dried in hot air oven at 60 ± 5 ℃ to obtain a constant weight. To compute LAI, CGR and RGR following formula cited by Sestak et al., 1971 [14] , Watson, 1952 [18] and Redfort, 1967 [11] were used respectively.

LAI =

Leaf area per plant(cm 2 ) Ground area occupied by plant(cm 2 ) " (Sestak et al., 1971) [14]

" (Watson, 1952) [18] RGR =

" (Redfort, 1967) [11] Results and Discussion Morphological parameters Irrigation schedule had no significant effect on plant height at 20 and 35 days after sowing (DAS). However, frequent irrigation (IW/CPE = 1.0) gave the tallest plants at 50 DAS and at picking, followed by IW/CPE = 0.8 and 0.5. The rainfed treatment recorded the shortest plants at these stages. This is due to higher irrigation frequency under greater IW/CPE ratios, which ensured sufficient soil moisture, improved nutrient uptake, and promoted cell division and elongation, leading to increased plant height (Manna et [7,12,10] . Similarly, total dry weight per plant was highest at 35 DAS, 50 DAS, and picking under IW/CPE = 1.0, and lowest under rainfed conditions. Adequate water availability enhanced nutrient access, boosted cell division, and increased dry matter buildup. Paul (2023) [9] stated that frequent irrigation supports cell division and expansion, resulting in steady biomass gain. Sowing date significantly influenced plant height at 20, 35, 50 DAS, and picking, regardless of irrigation. The earliest sowing (20 October) produced the tallest plants at 20, 35, and 50 DAS, followed by 5 th November and 20 th November, while 5 th December gave the shortest plants. This was likely due to favorable weather during early sowing (Panda and Dutta, 2019; Talukdar et al., 2020) [8,17] . At picking, the 5 th November sowing recorded the greatest height, statistically similar to 20 th October. The longer growth period allowed more time for cell division and elongation. Sharma et al. (2010) [15] found that pigeonpea varieties with longer maturity periods achieved greater plant height. Sowing date also had a conspicuous effect on total dry weight plant -1 . At 20, 35, and 50 DAS, dry weight decreased with delayed sowing, with the highest values in 20 th October and lowest in 5 th December. Talukdar et al. (2020) [17] explained that early sowing benefited from better weather, supporting growth and biomass accumulation. At picking, 5 th November sowing gave the highest dry weight, followed by 20 th October, and 5 th December the lowest. This may be due to longer sunshine duration in early November, which increased biomass buildup (Paul, 2023) [9] . The combined effect of irrigation scheduling and sowing dates significantly influenced the total dry weight per plant at 35 and 50 DAS. The maximum total dry weight plant -1 at 35 DAS was obtained from crop sown on 20 th October and irrigated at IW/CPE = 1.0, which was comparable with crop sown on 20 th October and irrigated at IW/CPE = 0.8. The minimum was recorded from rainfed crop sown on 5 th December. Again, the maximum total dry weight plant -1 at 50 DAS was found under crop sown on 20 th October and irrigated at IW/CPE = 1.0 which was however found to be statistically similar to crop sown on 20 th October and irrigated at IW/CPE = 0.8. The least value was noted under rainfed crop sown on 5 th December. This result could be attributed to collective influence of shifts in sowing and irrigation schedules which in turn resulted in modification of microclimate of the crop (Kalita., 2020) [4] .

Conclusion

The study demonstrated that irrigating Baby corn at an IW/CPE = 1.0 and sowing on 5 th November yielded superior morphological and physiological performance. Nevertheless, additional site-specific research is needed to develop a practical, ready-to-use guide that directly benefits farmers.

References

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