RESPONSE OF MAIZE TO COMBINATIONS OF ORGANIC AND MINERAL NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ON GROWTH, PRODUCTIVITY AND SOIL PROPERTIES UNDER CALCAREOUS AND ALLUVIAL SOILS
RANIA F. EL MANTAWY
Crop Physiology Res. Department, Field Crops Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Egypt.
EMAN H. ABD EL-AZEIZ
Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition Department, Soils, Water and Environ, Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Egypt.
I. A. I. ELGAZZAR
Maize Res. Department, Field Crops Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Egypt.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at two sites; (i) Farm of Tag El-Ezz (Dakahlia governorate) and (ii) Nubaria (Behera governorate), Agricultural Research Station, Egypt during the 2020 summer season to study the possibility of using compost and vermicompost as partial substitutes of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizers used in maize production. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. Data indicated that application of organic fertilizers with mineral N increased plant growth compared with mineral nitrogen. Growth parameters, chlorophyll contents, yield, yield components, NPK ,oil and protein % were increased significantly and gave the highest values with vermicompost at 1.8 ton ha-1 plus 80 % N ha.-1 compared with 100% N.
Keywords: Vermicompost, compost, growth, yield, NPK%, soil fertility, maize