Agronomic performance of maize hybrids influenced by sowing dates and plant spacing

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif, 2020 at Agronomy Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Wadura, Sopore in Split-split plot design with three dates of sowing viz; 17^th SMW (D₁), 19^th SMW (D₂) and 21^st SMW (D₃) as main plot treatments, three varied row spacing viz; 50 cm × 20 cm (S₁), 60 cm × 20 cm (S₂) and 70 cm × 20 cm (S₃) as sub-plot treatments and two maize hybrids viz; Hytech-5801 (H₁) and YSH-1 (H₂) as sub-sub plot treatments. The results of the demonstration showed that growth parameters viz., plant height, dry matter production, leaf area index, and functional leaves per plant increased significantly for the crop sown on 17^th SMW (D₁) with a concomitant increase in its yield attributing factors, ie., cob length, cob girth, number of grains per cob and test weight and yield. The growth, yield, and yield attributing factors also recorded the highest values with a plant spacing of 70 cm × 20 cm (S₃). As far as hybrids are concerned, growth characters showed a significant and consistent increase in hybrid Hytech-5801 compared to hybrid YSH-1 with an associated increase in yield and yield attributing factors.