Soil Test Based Fertilizer Prescriptions under Integrated Plant Nutrient Management System for Maize in an Inceptisol of Varanasi

Abstract

To develop fertilizer prescription equations for maize, a field experiment was conducted on Inceptisol of Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during kharif 2012 by using integrated plant nutrient management system on the basis of STCR approach. Soil test data, maize grain yield and NPK uptake by maize crop were used for obtaining four important basic parameters viz., nutrients required to produce one tonne (1 t) of maize grain (NR), contribution of nutrients from fertilizers (%CF), contribution of nutrients from soil (%CS) and contribution of nutrients from organic matter (%CFYM). It was found that 19.4, 5.70 and 18.4 kg of N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively were required for producing 1 t maize grain. The per cent contribution of nutrients from soil, fertilizer and FYM were 18.2. 13.4 and 8.18 for N; 49.6, 11.7 and 7.87 for P2O5; and 19.4, 25.4 and 9.96 for K2O, respectively. By using these basic parameters, ready reckoner of fertilizer doses was prepared for varying soil test values and desired yield targets of maize for NPK alone and NPK with FYM.