Performance of baby corn varieties under varying planting geometry

A field experiment was conducted during the winter seasons of 2014–15 at PJTSAU, Hyderabad to identify a suitable baby corn variety and optimum geometry for Southern Zone of Telangana. Treatments were laid out in randomized block design with factorial concept consisting of three baby corn varieties (‘30V92’, ‘Seed Tech-740’ and ‘VL-42’) along with four planting geometries (45 cm × 15 cm, 45 cm × 20 cm, 60 cm × 10 cm and 60 cm × 15 cm) and replicated thrice. The results of the experiment revealed that baby corn yield was 56% higher in VL-42 with 45 cm x 15 cm over Seed Tech-740 at the same spacing. Contrastingly, cost of cultivation was highest with VL-42 under the planting geometry of 60 cm x 10 cm, whereas net returns and benefit cost ratio were highest in VL-42 with 45 cm × 15 cm. The study showed that VL-42 with a population of 1,48,148 plants/ha is a viable option for growing baby corn on sandy loam soils of Southern Zone of Telangana.