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A field experiment was carried out in the farmer’s fields of the Bhagalpur district of Bihar during the rabi seasons of 2016–17 and 2017–18 to ascertain the impact of high fertility levels and plant geometry on the productivity and profitability of rabi maize. There were total five treatments consisting of different plant geometry and fertilizer rate. The five treatments viz.,T1- 60 × 20 cm spacing with 120:75:50 kg/ha (Farmers practice), T2- 50 × 20 cm spacing with 150:93.75:62.5 kg/ha, T3- 40 × 20 cm spacing with 150:93.75:62.5 kg/ha, T4- 50 × 20 cm spacing with 180:112.5:75 kg/ha and T5- 40 × 20 cm spacing with 180:112.5:75 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively were arranged in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with five replications. Polled data of two consecutive years revealed that all the higher fertility levels with reduced plant geometry produced higher yield attributes and yield of rabi maize and also sustained soil fertility as compare to the farmer’s practice. Significantly, highest cob length (19.49 cm), cob girth (12.83 cm), 1000-grain wt (305.5 g), grain yield (115.94 q/ha) and net returns of INR 101434/ha were recorded with 180 : 112.5 : 75 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O with the plant spacing of 50×20 cm (T4). Application of 150:93.75:62.5 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O at plant spacing 50 × 20 cm (T2) being at par with 180:112.5:75 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O with the plant spacing of 50 × 20 cm (T4) and 180:112.5:75 kg/ha N, P2O5 and K2O at plant spacing 40 × 20 cm (T5).
Mauriya et al. (Mon,) studied this question.