Influence of Residue Management on Yield and Yield Components of Zero Till Maize

Abstract:

Crop residue burning in open fields contributes to global warming by greatly polluting the air and emitting greenhouse gases. In order to seek an alternative, the current study was initiated to explore the perspective of lignocellulolytic microbes to expedite in situ decomposition of crop residues. The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of residue management and fertilizers on the yield and yield components of maize. The experiment was conducted at a college farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad during rabi 2020-21 and 2021-21, respectively and was laid out in strip plot design with twenty-four treatments having three replications. A higher number of cobs plant-1, cob length, cob girth, number of kernel rows cob-1, number of kernels cob-1, test weight, grain, and biological yields were recorded with incorporation of residues treated with SSP and consortia in combination with 75 % RDF application. However, these parameters were minimal for residue burning and removal treatments with 125% RDF application. The plots in which residues were not incorporated also performed poorly and resulted in the lowest values of these parameters. It is concluded that the application of microbial consortia at the rate of 10% of residue weight in incorporated plots along with the application of SSP resulted in higher yield and yield components of maize