Response of fodder maize growth and yield attributes to nano urea and nano dap application

Introduction

Maize is considered the "Queen of Cereals" due to its high value and exceptional adaptability as a C4 crop for human food, animal feed, and fodder. Among various cultivated forage crops, maize is ideal for fodder and silage production because of its high yield potential and excellent nutritional profile. Furthermore, it can be safely fed to livestock at any growth stage without risk (Rashid et al., 2025) [18] . Among the various fodder crops, fodder maize is the most preferred due to its high productivity and being free from anti-nutritional factors. Presently, cultivation of fodders is limited to only 4% of the entire cultivable land in the country. The performance of livestock and the economics of milk production are heavily dependent on the quantity and quality of fodder fed to animals. There is a current shortfall of 35.6% green fodder, 10.5% dry fodder, and 44% concentrate feed ingredients across the country. The opportunity for expanding the land area under fodder cultivation is very restricted. Consequently, it faces serious demands good nutrient management. Better quality fodder is important for milk production because it sends more crude protein and other nutrients to the small intestine. This improves the livestock's overall nitrogen balance. Low availability of nutrient-rich feeds and fodder results in unhealthy animals and poorer dairy yield. In maize, foliar application of nano urea has been shown to increase chlorophyll content, photosynthetic efficiency, and dry matter accumulation, resulting in higher green fodder yield (Kumar et al., 2022) [10] . Similarly, studies on nano phosphorus fertilizers have indicated improved root proliferation, better nutrient acquisition, and increased yield attributes. The combined application of nano urea and nano DAP has been found to synergistically enhance growth and yield by optimizing nitrogen and phosphorus availability during critical growth stages.

Materials and Methods

Experiment study area and site

A field experiment was carried out to asses effect of nano urea and nano DAP on growth, yield 1.

Experiment treatment details

Experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design consist of ten different Nano urea and Nano DAP treatments with three replications. Integration of Nano urea and Nano DAP treatments was reported in Table 2. For experiment purpose, fodder maize (Gujrat Fodder Maize 1, Anand Tall) variety was used. Recommended dose of fertilizer for fodder maize is 80-40-0 NPK kg/ha. Nutrient was applied according to the pre define treatment. As per treatment, half dose of nitrogen through urea and full dose of phosphorus was applied as a basal and remaining half dose of nitrogen was applied at 30 days after sowing. The sources of Nano urea and Nano DAP was Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO). According to treatments, foliar application of Nano urea and Nano DAP was carried out at 25 and 50 DAS, coinciding with active vegetative and early reproductive stage of fodder maize.

Observations recorded

To measure growth and yield-attributing characters in fodder maize, tag five randomly selected plants within the net plot area.

Record growth parameters, such as plant height and the number of leaves per plant, at regular intervals. Measure yield attributes, including the number, length, and diameter of the cobs, during the experimental period. At harvest, collect the properly dried cobs, separating the border-row cobs first. Finally, harvest the cobs from the remaining net plot area to calculate the total grain yield on a per-hectare basis.

Cultural practices

To ensure a successful fodder maize experiment, all standard recommended cultivation practices were followed. Primary tillage operations were completed prior to laying out the field, and all unwanted stubbles were removed. Fodder maize seeds were sown with a spacing of 30 cm between rows and 10 cm between plants. In the integrated treatment plots, seeds were pre-treated with Nano DAP at a rate of 4 mL/kg of seed.

According to the fixed treatment schedule, Nano urea and Nano DAP were applied as foliar sprays at a rate of 4 mL/L at 25 and 50 days after sowing (DAS). Plant protection measures were strictly followed using CIB-approved agrochemicals; specifically, Chlorantraniliprole 18.5% SC and Emamectin benzoate 5% SG were applied to control fall armyworm. For optimal crop production, an initial common irrigation was applied immediately after sowing to ensure uniform germination, followed by subsequent irrigations at intervals of 10 to 12 days.

Statistical analysis of experiment data

Mean data were statistically analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (Cochran and Cox, 1957) [2] . Treatment means were compared using the F-test and Critical Differences (CD) at 5% level of significance were calculated where appropriate.

Results and Discussion

Integrated Nano urea and Nano DAP treatments did not significantly affect plant populations at 15 DAS or at harvest in Anand and Godhra (Table 3). A uniform plant population was observed across all treatments, meaning that the treatments had no effect on plant stand. Similar findings were reported by Kumar et al. (2021) [9] , Rajesh et al. (2023) [17] who observed that nano fertilizers improved nutrient uptake and yield indices without altering plant population. Periodical plant height (Table 1) and number of leaves per plant (Table 4) at Anand and Godhra location, response of plant height at 30 DAS did not show significant effects on height (Table 3). This might be early vegetative growth in maize is largely dependent on seed reserves, initial soil fertility and environmental conditions, rather than external nutrient supplementation. Significant response of combined application of conventical fertilizer with Nano fertilizer on growth parameter were found significant. [1,12,9] . Nutrients play a crucial role in plant growth and the application of nano fertilizers significantly enhances nutrient absorption and plant development (Kumar et al., 2024) [7] .

The number of leaves in fodder maize at 30 DAS, 60 DAS, and at harvest was significantly influenced by different treatments involving nano urea and nano DAP. Data presented in Table 4 revealed that application of 75% RDF + seed treatment with Nano DAP @ 5 mL/kg seed followed by foliar spray with Nano urea and Nano DAP @ 4 mL/litre at 25 & 50 DAS (T 10 ) consistently recorded higher number of leaves at 30 DAS (11.2 and 9.5) and 60 DAS (13.2 and 13.1) and at harvest (13.5 and 14.7) across Anand and Godhra locations, respectively. Erstwhile outcomes confirmed that reducing the recommended dose of fertilizer (75%) with seed treatment of Nano DAP along with combined application of nano urea and nao DAP as foliar spray were estimated with the maximum number of leaves due to its balanced and efficient nutrient supply. [14,22,11,19,16,20,6] . Essential nutrients drive plant growth, the application of nano-fertilizers drastically improves nutrient uptake efficiency and accelerates development (Kaur and Satpal., 2019 and Kumar et al., 2024) [5,8] . Perusal of data presented in Table 4 regarding cob length and weight of cob significantly influenced by different treatments (Table 4). The experiment finding revealed that all integrated nitrogen management treatments significantly influenced cob length and cob girth (Table 4). Higher number of cob length (16.30 and 16.10 cm) and weight of cob (9.75 and 9.32 kg/plot) at both locations, respectively was noted higher in treatment T 10 (75% RDF along with seed treatment with Nano DAP @ 5 mL/kg seed fb foliar spray with Nano urea and Nano DAP 4 mL/litre at 25 & 50 DAS). While results of variance analysis showed the both conventional and nano fertilizer applications non significantly effect on cob girth, number of cob per plant and shelling percentage (Table 5).

From the finding on growth parameters as cob length, cob girth and weight of cob of fodder maize, it can be culminated that a higher cob length, girth and weight of cob showed with reducing dose of fertilizer (75%) with seed treatment as well as foliar application of combined nano urea and nano DAP treatments perfectly kindred assessments were also described by several researchers. Application of nano fertilizers to maize activates enzymes by fusing with the formation of chlorophyll in most plants, promoting the formation of growth hormones such as tryptophan. This increased in production in the main place to store carbohydrates in plants, which eventually led to an increased cob length, girth and weight of cob as a source and storage of carbohydrates, and ultimately increased yield (Lekshmi et al., 2022, Saitheja et al.,2022 and Girigoud et al.,2023) [11,21,3] . According to finding by Reddy et al., 2022 [19] and Mehta et al., 2026 [13] , the improvement in yield parameter likely to linked better nutrient uptake and enhanced source-sink relationships, resulting in increased cob size.

Conclusion

The plant population of fodder maize at 15 DAS and at harvest, number of cobs per plant, cob girth and shelling percentage was not significantly affected by different treatments at Anand and Godhra locations. However, the application of 75% RDF along with seed treatment with Nano DAP @ 5 mL/kg seed fb foliar spray with Nano urea and Nano DAP 4 mL/litre at 25 & 50 DAS (T 10 ) recorded significantly higher plant height at 60 DAS and at harvest, higher number of leaves at 30 DAS, 60 DAS and at harvest and cob length at Anand and Godhra.

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