Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth, productivity, quality and economics of fodder maize in rainfed upland of Terai region of West Bengal

A field experiment was conducted at the Instructional farm of Ramshai Krishi Vigyan Kendra, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Ramshai, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal during the kharif season of 2007 and 2008 under rainfed condition to study the effect of different nutrient management practices on growth, productivity, quality and economics of rainfed fodder maize. The nutrient management practices exerted significant effect on improving the growth attributes like plant height, leaf area index, crop growth rate and stem girth of fodder maize that ultimately led to high forage productivity and profitability. The maximum increase in growth attributes, forage yield and economics were obtained from the crop receiving 50% RDN through FYM + 50% RDF (30 kg N, 15 kg P₂O₅ and 15 kg K₂O ha⁻¹) through chemical fertilizers + Azotobacter and were closely followed by the crop receiving 50% RDN through MC + 50% RDF through chemical fertilizers + Azotobacter, 50% RDN through FYM + 50% RDF through chemical fertilizers and 50% RDN through MC + 50% RDF through chemical fertilizers; but were significantly superior to other fertility treatments. These treatments, on an average, increased forage yield by 73.7%, dry matter yield by 72.9% and protein yield by 106.6% and helped in maintaining fodder quality at high standard over those of the control plots.