EFFECT OF BIOCHAR, FYM AND MINERAL NITROGEN ALONE AND IN COMBINATION ON YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENTS OF MAIZE

The important determinant that influences crop growth cycle and directly or indirectly affects crop productivity is the efficient nutrient management for a crop. In Pakistan, maize production mainly relies on commercial fertilizers. Presently the environmental pollution as a result of higher inorganic fertilization has become a burning issue in the field of agriculture. In this connection, in order to evaluate the impact of nitrogen sources on various yield characters of maize crop, field experiment was conducted at New Developmental Farm of Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan in 2009 in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having three replications. The experiment comprised of 6 fertilizer treatments i.e. control, nitrogen alone (N), farm yard manure alone (FYM), biochar alone (BC), 50% N (mineral) + 50% BC and 50% FYM + 50% BC. Data were recorded on plant height, number of rows ear^-1, number of grains ear^-1, ear length, thousand grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and plant at harvest. All the parameters were significantly affected except plant at harvest. Among the treatment taller plants and higher number of grains ear^-1 were produced by plots where sole mineral nitrogen was applied while biochar in combination with commercial fertilizer resulted in higher number of rows ear^-1, thousand grain weight, grain yield and biological yield. Hence application of biochar at the rate of 30 tones ha^-1 in combination with mineral nitrogen at the rate of 75 kg ha^-1 is recommended for improving maize productivity.