EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC SOURCES OF NITROGEN ON YIELD ATTRIBUTES AND YIELD OF MAIZE UNDER SANDY LOAM SOIL CONDITIONS IN NORTHREN TELANGANA ZONE

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Polasa, Jagtial during kharif, 2018 and 2019 to study the effect of integrated nutrient management practices on yield attributes and yield of maize. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design during kharif, 2018 with nine treatments comprising of T1-100% RDF, T2-75% RDN + 25% N through FYM, T3-75% RDN + 25% N through vermicompost, T4-75% RDN + 25% N through poultry manure, T5-75% RDN+ 25% N through sheep manure, T6-75% RDN + 25% N through neem cake, T7-75 % RDN + Azotobacter @ 5 kg ha-1, T8-75% RDN + Azospirillum @ 5 kg ha-1, T9-75 % RDN + Azotobacter @ 2.5 kg ha-1 + Azospirillum @ 2.5 kg ha-1 replicated thrice. Significantly higher cob length, cob girth, number of rows cob-1, number of kernels row-1, number of kernels cob-1, test weight (g), grain yield (kg ha-1) and stover yield (kg ha-1) were recorded. Among the different treatments, application of 75% RDN + 25% N through vermicompost recorded longest cobs (16.33 cm and 16.57 cm in 2018 and 2019, respectively), increased cob girth (15.23 cm and 16.00 cm in 2018and 2019, respectively), registered higher kernel rows cob-1 (13.37 and 15.00 in 2018 and 2019 respectively), number of kernels row-1 (22.4 and 23.33 in 2018 and 2019 respectively), highest number of kernels cob-1 (302 and 348 in 2018 and 2019, respectively) more test weight (30.57 and 30.07 in 2018 and 2019, respectively), more grain yield (6349 and 6514 kg ha-1in 2018 and 2019, respectively) and stover yield (8259 and 8460 kg ha-1 in 2018 and 2019, respectively) over 75% RDN + 25% N through poultrymanure, 75% RDN + 25% N through neem cake, 75 % RDN + Azotobacter @ 2.5 kg ha-1 + Azospirillum @ 2.5 kg ha-1, 75% RDN + Azospirillum @ 5 kg ha-1, 75% RDN + Azotobacter @ 5 kg ha-1. While, it is comparable with 100 % RDF, 75 % RDN + 25% N through FYM and 75 % RDN + 25% N through sheep manure.