Effect of Different Farming Methods on Maize (Zea mays. L) Productivity and Soil Microbial Status

A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2007 at ZARS, Navile campus Shivamogga, Karnataka (India) to study the impact of different farming methods on productivity of maize and microbial activity in soil. The farming methods viz., zero budget farming (Subash Palekar's method), organic farming, inorganic farming, package of practices, zero budget plus inorganic farming methods. Results, of the study revealed that among the methods followed the package of practices significantly increased the growth and yield attributes of maize. Highest grain yield of 12.24 t ha⁻¹ and stover yield of 8.90 t ha¹ was recorded in package of practices compared to other farming methods. Whereas, the highest bacterial, fungal, and actinomycetes population of 11.46 x 10⁴, 25x 10³ and 19.62x10³ CFU g⁻¹ soil respectively was recorded under package of practices at harvest stage of the crop, but at 30 days after sowing (DAS) the highest bacterial and fungal population of 21.77x10⁴ CFU g⁻¹ soil and 43 x10³ CFU g⁻¹ soil was recorded under organic farming method however the lowest microbial population was recorded under inorganic farming method.