The response of maize to combined application of nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers in the semi-arid conditions of Faisalabad
From Firenze University Press Journal: Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID)
Anum Ismail, Department of Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Muhammad Abdullah Saleem, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Abid Shehzad, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Asif Iqbal, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Pakeeza Ahmed Khan, Department of Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Wajeeh Ur Rehman, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Waqar Akram, Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Food demand increases in direct relation with human population,whereas intensive agricultural practices have led widespread soil degradation (Saleem et al., 2023). Provision of good quality food is among the focusses of sustainable developmental goals which can be met through higher crop production at lower cast (Iqbal et al., 2023). There are many crops sown in the world for food security out of which maize has high dietary value thus helpful in reducing the hunger of world’s human (Rouf Shah, Prasad, & Kumar, 2016). Maize plays an important role in the overall progress of the national economy, feed poultry and livestock industries along with providing the domestic industry with raw marital (Hassan, 2005). In starch industry maize, provides basic raw material for different products (Hussain et al., 2011).Currently, maize was cultivate on area of 1720 thousand hectares indicating an increase of 4.1% in comparisonto last year’s 1653 thousand hectares with a total production of 10.183 million tons facing an increase 6.9% from last year (Govt. of Pakistan, 2024).There are many aspects due to which maize crop yield is low (Chughtai, Hussain, HN, & Aslam, 2002). Climatic conditions, soil fertility, unbalanced nutrient applications and poor crop management are major causes effecting maize yield. Nutrients availability and crop management are necessary for successful crop production (Ahmad, Tahir, Saleem, & Zafar, 2018). Crop nutrition management is necessary for enhanced crop production (Saleem, Tahir, Ahmad, & Tahir, 2020). Crop nutrition must be managed for escalated crop yields (Fatima, Tahir, & Saleem, 2021). Nutrients are categorizedas macro and micro on the basis of their requirements. All the nutrients are mostly taken up by the plants through their roots from the soil and this movement is facilitated by some transporters (Kimura et al., 2019). Every single nutrient plays its specific role in plant body and growth augmentation. Nitrogen is the most importantmineral element taking part in plant physiological functions. İt is the integral part of some biomolecules in plant body such as proteins, nucleic acid, growth regulators and chlorophyll (Nguyen, Rothstein, Spangenberg, & Kant, 2015). All the plant parts require an optimum dose of N for proper functioning (Gastal & Lemaire, 2002).It help the generation of proteins by directly involving in the chlorophyll synthesis (Oliveira, Bonfim-Silva, Silveira, & Monteiro, 2010). Nitrogen plays key role in biomass production in forages but the supply of N from soil solution and organic amendments seems insufficient to meet the crop requirement, therefore additional application of N is essential to sustain crop production (Dupas, Buzetti, Sarto, Hernandez, & Bergamaschine, 2010; Hancock, Harris, Franks, Morgan, & Green, 2008; Karina et al., 2014).Phosphorus, the second most important of the macronutrients, must be present in very high concentrations for there to be successful crop production. It plays an important part in the development of plant growth, root development (Kabir et al., 2013), metabolism, and crop output (Cordell et al., 2009). In Pakistan, the majority of soils have a high pH; hence, phosphorus in these soils precipitates with calcium and magnesium ions (Alburquerque et al., 2013). Because of this, the plant only takes a relatively small percentage of phosphorus between 10 and 20 percent and the rest of it is fixed and it is possible to recover up to 80 percent of the phosphorus contained in most soils with the application of appropriate management strategies (Wang et al., 2014).The biogeochemical cycles of N and P elements are commonly acknowledged to exhibit biological interdependence, as observed in studies by Finzi et al. (2011). Consequently, when there are disproportionate inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus into terrestrial ecosystems, it is anticipated that this imbalance will perturb the cycling of these nutrients and lead to a transition in terrestrial ecosystems from being nitrogen-limited to becoming phosphorus-limited(Peng, Peng, Zeng, & Houx, 2019).Reduction in N supply is directly related to yield (Osborne, Schepers, Francis, & Schlemmer, 2002). Nitrogen improves plant vegetative growth. Maximum crop production can be achieved using N, but excess use will reduce crop productivity (Hammad et al., 2016). Phosphorus performs its function in cell division and photosynthesis, Phosphorus is mandatory for quality production (Maqsood, Abid, Iqbal, & Hussain, 2001)and also influences the root system (Kabir, Yeasmin, Islam, & Sarkar, 2013). Maize roots give maximum response to phosphorus (Vita et al., 2016).Nitrogen and phosphorus are the major two nutrients being used in agricultural lands to increase crop productivity throughoutthe world (Hu & Chu, 2020).Changing the climatic conditions, development of new hybrids and uneven distribution of nutrients in soil is affecting the crop production. Crop requirements, soil fertility and nutrient efficiencies has been changed from previously recommended. Different areas and soil conditions demand the balanced nutrient management practices. Balanced application of N and P are fundamental for maximum maize production. Therefore, current experiment was conducted to re-evaluate the concentration of N and P for better maize production.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/jaeid-12340
Read Full Text: https://www.jaeid.it/index.php/jaeid/article/view/12340
