Influence of Zinc Fortification on Yields and Quality of Fodder Maize
2022
Shanti, M. | Susheela, R. | Chandrika, V. | Shashikala, T. | Patnaik, M.C. | Surendra Babu, P.
An experiment was conducted to study the effect of fortification of fodder maize var. African Tall with micronutrient zinc through ZnSO4 fertilizer application. The study involved fortification at different doses through soil application and foliar sprays at different stages of crop. Green fodder yields were highest at 50 kg ZnSO4 ha-1. Zinc content increased with increasing crop growth from knee high (18.9 mg kg-1) to fodder harvest (37.9 mg kg-1) with highest concentration at soil application of 50 ZnSO4 ha-1. Zinc fortification of 23% was observed when 50 kg of ZnSO4 was added through soil application while soil application of 25 kg ZnSO4 ha-1 along with two foliar sprays at knee high and tasseling showed on par yields. Foliar sprays complemented soil application but foliar application alone excluding soil application failed to show impact on yields. No significant effect of zinc was observed on quality parameters viz., crude protein, acid detergent fiber or neutral detergent fiber. The crude protein content though did not vary significantly, highest was observed when 50 kg ZnSO4 was applied as soil application. Zinc application significantly influenced Neutral detergent fiber at fodder harvest, on the contrary, acid detergent fiber was not effected at any stage of crop.
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