Vol. 10, Issue 11 (2021)

Author(s):
Senthilkumar I, Ramamoorthy K, Rani S and Maragatham S

Abstract:
A field experiment was conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the effect of gypsum enriched poultry manure and graded levels of phosphorus on productivity and profitability of hybrid maize. Enriching poultry manure with gypsum has been found to reduce the ammonia volatilization as well as obnoxious odour and results in manure with better physical and chemical properties. However there is a need to study the effect of gypsum enriched poultry manure on crop growth and productivity. Hence the field experiment was carried out to find out the effect of gypsum enriched poultry manure on growth and yield of maize. The experimental soil was low in organic carbon, high in available nitrogen and medium in available phosphorus and potassium. Twenty treatment combinations involving two factors were replicated thrice in completely randomized block design. The results of the experiment revealed that enriched poultry manure and graded phosphorus levels had a significant influence on the growth and yield of maize. Application of gypsum enriched poultry manure @ 2 t ha^-1 and phosphorus @ 100 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 showed a significant increase in growth and yield parameters like plant height, dry matter production, cob length, cob girth, number of grains per row and individual cob weight. Statistically significant grain yield and stover yield of maize was observed due to the treatments. Hence enriching poultry manure with gypsum is an effective way and eco friendly technique which improves the soil health and increase the crop growth and productivity while reducing the ammonia volatilization from poultry manure.