Impact of moisture conservation and nutrient-management practices on performance of maize (Zea mays) in Tarai Region of West Bengal

A field experiment was conducted during Pre Kharif seasons (February to May) of 2013 and 2014 at the Instructional Farm, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Coochbehar, West Bengal to evaluate the growth, yield and economics of maize (Zea mays L.) under moisture conservation and nutrient-management practices. Among the moisture-conservation practices, irrigation resulted in the highest yield attributes such as cob length, cob girth, 100-grain weight, cob/plant, grain/cob, rows/cob and grain weight/cob, leading to the highest grain yield (4.35 t/ha), stover yield (12.0 t/ha), harvest index (26.4%), water-use efficiency (0.11 kg/ha/mm), net returns (30.1 × 10³/ha) and benefit: cost ratio (1.19). Application of irrigation significantly increased the plant height (218 cm at harvesting), leaf-area index [4.41 at 75 days after sowing (DAS)], dry-matter accumulation (1, 203 g/m² at harvesting), crop-growth rate (20.2 g/g/m² at 61–75 DAS), nitrogen (89.9 kg/ha), phosphorus (54.3 kg/ha) and potassium (104.1 kg/ha) uptake. Among the nutrient management practices, the highest plant height (216 cm at harvesting), leaf-area index (4.26 at 75 DAS), dry-matter accumulation (1, 167 g/m² at harvest), crop-growth rate (19.5 g/g/m² at 61–75 DAS), grain yield (4.21 t/ha), stover yield (11.7 t/ha), harvest index (26.3%), nitrogen (90.3 kg/ha), phosphorus (51.5 kg/ha), potassium (99.4 kg/ha) uptake, net returns (25.8 × 10³/ha) and water-use efficiency (0.10 kg/ha-mm) were recorded under treatment receiving 75% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) + phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) + Azotobacter + vermicompost @ 5.0 t/ha but the highest benefit: cost ratio (0.98) was recorded under 100% RDF + PSB + Azotobacter (N₂). Our result showed that maize grown with irrigation and sup-plied with 75% RDF + PSB + Azotobacter + vermicompost @ 5.0 t/ha (N3) proved the best for obtaining overall gain on a sustainable basis.