PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND MINERAL CONTENT OF MAIZE GRAINS INFLUENCED BY MULCHING

Chemical analysis of maize grains practiced with mulches materials were carried out in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during 2012. Maize variety “Azam” was grown at New Developmental Farm, University of Agriculture, Peshawar under different mulching materials viz. farmyard manure, chicken manure, black polyethylene plastic, white polyethylene plastic, Eucalyptus (chopped leaves) along with a hand weeding and a weedy check fro comparison. Grain samples collected from different mulching treatments were tested for moisture, crude fat, fiber and protein in the laboratory. The proximate composition results showed higher moisture (11%), crude fat (4.50%), crude fiber (2.81%) and crude protein (12.90%) contents in grains samples where farmyard manure was used as mulch followed by the black polythene plastic and the hand weeding. The lowest moisture, crude fat, crude fiber and crude protein (7.00, 2.87, 1.02 and 10.01%, respectively) were recorded for grain obtained from the weedy check. It was evident from the results that mulching did have some effects on nutritional composition of the maize grains. Thus, the nutritional composition quality of maize grains could be improved by applying farmyard manure as mulching material and for a good weed control.