GROWTH AND YIELD PERFORMANCE OF A SHORT STATURE EARLY WHITE MAIZE UNDER VARYING INTER ROW AND INTRA PLANT SPACING

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study the growth and yield performance of a short stature early white maize under varying inter row and intra plant spacing. The field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, during March to June, 2019. Fifteen plant spacing viz. T = 40 cm × 15 cm, T 2 = 40 cm × 20 cm, T ii 3 = 40 cm × 25 cm, T = 45 cm × 15 cm, T 5 = 45 cm × 20 cm, T 6 = 45 cm × 25 cm, T 7 4 = 50 cm × 15 cm, T = 50 cm × 20 cm, T 9 = 50 cm × 25 cm , T 10 = 55 cm × 15 cm, T 11 8 = 55 cm × 20 cm, T = 55 cm × 25 cm, T 13 = 60 cm × 15 cm, T 14 = 60 cm × 20 cm and T = 60 cm × 25 cm were used under the present study. Results showed that the plant spacing T showed maximum plant height, but maximum tassel length was found from T 3 8 . The highest leaf length, breadth and area were found from T , while the highest cob-leaf length, breadth and area were found from T . The highest dry weight plant -1 was found from T 8 15 . In terms of yield contributing parameters, the highest cob length (14.00 cm) and cob breadth (13.58 cm) were found from T 14 ,

while the highest 100 grain weight (26.88 g) and grain weight cob (68.74 g) were recorded from T 8 . The highest grain yield (7.33 t ha ) and harvest index (49.33%) were recorded from the treatment T while the lowest grain yield ha -1 (4.01 t ha -1 ) was found from T 12 8 and lowest harvest index (39.53%) was found from T . From the above results, it may be concluded that the plant spacing 50 cm × 20 cm showed highest grain yield (7.33 t ha 1 ) and harvest index (49.33%) and this plant spacing can be considered as the best compared to other plant spacing.