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Effect of Nutrient Omission on Grain Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia

Received: 30 September 2020    Accepted: 21 October 2020    Published: 10 March 2021
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Abstract

Application of fertilizer is the most effective means to increase nutrient uptake in crop plants and improve yields and quality. A field experiment was conducted with an objective to identify which of macronutrients N, P and K are limiting maize grain and yield components in the study area during 2017/18 cropping season. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized block design with six treatments replicated across six farmers’ fields in Kersa district, Jimma zone, south western Ethiopia. The trial consisted of six treatments, unfertilized control, PK, NK, NP, NPK and NPK+. Maize grain yield was the highest for the NPK treatment followed by NPK+ treatment but lowest for the unfertilized control and N omitted plots. In absence of N, P, and K maize grain yields were significantly lower compared to that of NPK and NPK+ treatments. Among the different treatments, NPK gave the highest grain yield (9185 kg ha-1), while the control treatment gave the lowest grain yield (1861.3 kg ha-1). Grain yield levels obtained for different fertilizer treatments were ranked as NPK>NPK+>NP>PK>NK, illustrating that N deficiency was the most yield limiting nutrient followed by P and K in order. Therefore, NPK is the most suitable balanced fertilizers as application of secondary and micronutrients did not further enhance grain yield in the study area.

Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12
Page(s) 7-15
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Maize, Nutrient, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium

References
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    Obsa Atnafu, Tesfaye Balemi, Alemayehu Regassa. (2021). Effect of Nutrient Omission on Grain Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 10(1), 7-15. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12

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    Obsa Atnafu; Tesfaye Balemi; Alemayehu Regassa. Effect of Nutrient Omission on Grain Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia. Agric. For. Fish. 2021, 10(1), 7-15. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12

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    AMA Style

    Obsa Atnafu, Tesfaye Balemi, Alemayehu Regassa. Effect of Nutrient Omission on Grain Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia. Agric For Fish. 2021;10(1):7-15. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12,
      author = {Obsa Atnafu and Tesfaye Balemi and Alemayehu Regassa},
      title = {Effect of Nutrient Omission on Grain Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia},
      journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {7-15},
      doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20211001.12},
      abstract = {Application of fertilizer is the most effective means to increase nutrient uptake in crop plants and improve yields and quality. A field experiment was conducted with an objective to identify which of macronutrients N, P and K are limiting maize grain and yield components in the study area during 2017/18 cropping season. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized block design with six treatments replicated across six farmers’ fields in Kersa district, Jimma zone, south western Ethiopia. The trial consisted of six treatments, unfertilized control, PK, NK, NP, NPK and NPK+. Maize grain yield was the highest for the NPK treatment followed by NPK+ treatment but lowest for the unfertilized control and N omitted plots. In absence of N, P, and K maize grain yields were significantly lower compared to that of NPK and NPK+ treatments. Among the different treatments, NPK gave the highest grain yield (9185 kg ha-1), while the control treatment gave the lowest grain yield (1861.3 kg ha-1). Grain yield levels obtained for different fertilizer treatments were ranked as NPK>NPK+>NP>PK>NK, illustrating that N deficiency was the most yield limiting nutrient followed by P and K in order. Therefore, NPK is the most suitable balanced fertilizers as application of secondary and micronutrients did not further enhance grain yield in the study area.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effect of Nutrient Omission on Grain Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Kersa District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia
    AU  - Obsa Atnafu
    AU  - Tesfaye Balemi
    AU  - Alemayehu Regassa
    Y1  - 2021/03/10
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12
    T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    SP  - 7
    EP  - 15
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5648
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20211001.12
    AB  - Application of fertilizer is the most effective means to increase nutrient uptake in crop plants and improve yields and quality. A field experiment was conducted with an objective to identify which of macronutrients N, P and K are limiting maize grain and yield components in the study area during 2017/18 cropping season. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized block design with six treatments replicated across six farmers’ fields in Kersa district, Jimma zone, south western Ethiopia. The trial consisted of six treatments, unfertilized control, PK, NK, NP, NPK and NPK+. Maize grain yield was the highest for the NPK treatment followed by NPK+ treatment but lowest for the unfertilized control and N omitted plots. In absence of N, P, and K maize grain yields were significantly lower compared to that of NPK and NPK+ treatments. Among the different treatments, NPK gave the highest grain yield (9185 kg ha-1), while the control treatment gave the lowest grain yield (1861.3 kg ha-1). Grain yield levels obtained for different fertilizer treatments were ranked as NPK>NPK+>NP>PK>NK, illustrating that N deficiency was the most yield limiting nutrient followed by P and K in order. Therefore, NPK is the most suitable balanced fertilizers as application of secondary and micronutrients did not further enhance grain yield in the study area.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Jimma Agricultural Research Center, Jimma, Ethiopia

  • Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia

  • Department of Natural Resource Management, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

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