Effect of Different Levels and Times of Nitrogen Application on Grain and Forage Quality of Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. saccharata)

This field experiment conducted during the rabi season of 2017-18 at N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat, aimed to investigate the response of sweet corn (Zea mays L. saccharata) to different levels and times of nitrogen application under the south Gujarat conditions. The factorial randomized block design (FRBD) with three replications was employed, considering four nitrogen levels (90 kg/ha, 120 kg/ha, 150 kg/ha, and 180 kg/ha) and four split application treatments (½ basal + ½ at knee height, ½ basal + ¼ knee height + ¼ tasseling, 1/3 basal + 1/3 knee height + 1/3 tasseling, and ¼ basal + ½ at knee height + ¼ tasseling). The results of the study demonstrated that the application of 180 kg/ha nitrogen significantly increased the protein content in grain and fodder (10.51% and 3.88% respectively) and total sugar content (14.96). Additionally, higher NPK uptake and available nitrogen (197.25 kg/ha) and phosphorus (47.53 kg/ha) levels were observed with a 180 kg/ha nitrogen application rate. When nitrogen was applied in three splits, specifically at ¼ basal + ½ at knee height + ¼ tasseling, it resulted in significantly higher protein content in grain and fodder (9.89% and 3.54% respectively), total sugar content (13.65), as well as NPK uptake in grain and fodder and available nitrogen and phosphorus (189.95 kg/ha and 45.84 kg/ha). These findings highlight the importance of nitrogen management in sweet corn cultivation to enhance the nutritional quality and productivity of both grain and fodder. Implementing the optimal nitrogen levels (180 kg/ha) and split application timings (¼ basal + ½ at knee height + ¼ tasseling) can contribute to achieving desirable protein and sugar content, as well as improving NPK uptake and availability of nitrogen and phosphorus.

Effect of Nano Nitrogen and Nano Zinc on the Growth and Yield of Sweetcorn

Aim: To study the effect of nano nitrogen and nano zinc on the growth and yield of sweetcorn (variety KSP-5389) in Inceptisol of Odisha.Experimental design: The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications and eight treatments. The treatments details were T1-Absolute control, T2- RDF (Recommended dose of N: P2O5: K2O :: 80: 40: 40), T3- RDF + Zn @ 5 kg ha-1 , T4- 50 % N + N foliar spray ( Vegetative Stage), T5- 50% N + N foliar spray ( Vegetative Stage + Tasselling), T6- 50% N + N foliar spray ( Vegetative Stage + Tasselling) + Zn foliar spray (Silking stage), T7- 50% N + N foliar spray ( Vegetative Stage + Tasselling) + Zn foliar spray (Silking+Milking), T8- N spray ( Veg+ Tasselling ) + Zn spray (Silking+ Dough). P & K was common to all treatment except control.Place and duration of study: A field experiment was conducted during Rabi season, February 2022 at khujimahal, Chandaka, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar Odisha.Results: The results showed that highest biological yield (1685 kgha-1) was found in the application of (50% N with two foliar sprays of nano N at vegetative and tasselling stage and two foliar spray of nano Zn @4ml L-1 at silking and milking stage). Whereas lowest cobyield (691 kg ha-1) was observed in absolute control. Compare with recommended dose of fertilizer with Zn, the application of 50% N with Nano N and Nano Zn as double foliar spray, the yield was increased by 41% whereas 26% yield increase by single foliar application of nano Zn.Conclusion: Highest harvest index HI was found in the application of 50% N with two foliar sprays of nano N at vegetative and tasselling stage and two sprays of nano Zn @4 ml L-1 at silking and milking stage and lowest in control. Application of 50% N with two foliar sprays of nano N at vegetative and tasselling stage and two spray of nano Zn @4ml l-1 at silking and dough stage (T8) helps in increasing the yield of sweet corn as well as nutrient concentration and nutrient uptake followed by T7 (50 % N + N foliar spray at vegetative stage @ 4ml l-1 + Zn spray at Silking and Milking stage).

Assessment of Genetic Variation and Character Association among Yield and Yield Attributing Traits in Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. saccharata) Inbred Lines

In this study, forty-six sweet corn inbred lines were evaluated to assess the variability and association among 11 yield and yield attributing traits at College Farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, PJTSAU. The traits plant height, ear height, cob length, cob girth, number of rows per ear, number of kernels per row, cob weight with husk and cob weight without husk have shown moderate to high range of PCV, GCV, heritability and genetic advance over mean displaying the importance of these traits in selecting superior sweet corn inbreds. Critical analysis of results obtained from correlation and path analysis revealed that the traits cob length, cob girth, number of kernel rows per ear and cob weight without husk posses high positive significant associations and positive direct effects. From this study it was concluded that cob length, cob girth, number of kernel rows per ear and cob weight without husk are the key traits to be given prime importance during selection for further improvement of production as they exhibited significant positive direct effects with cob weight with husk.

Testers in supersweet corn lines / Avaliação de testadores em linhagens de milho superdoce

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the discriminatory capacity of tester lines for tropical corn lines converted to supersweet shrunken (sh2) gene, for the development of hybrids adapted to tropical conditions. Lines were used as female parents in crosses with three testers: open-pollinated mixed variety; supersweet line L4; supersweet commercial hybrid Tropical Plus. Four trials were carried out to evaluate topcrosses in Maringá - PR e Sabáudia - PR, Brazil in the main growing season of 2015/16. The following traits were evaluated: total ear weight (TEW, in kg), commercial ear weight (CEW, in kg) and total soluble solids (TSS, in °Brix). The GCA estimates for TEW and CEW were highest for L4. The lines Balu-114 and UEM-25 were selected based on the effects of g ̂ ifor the traits studied and should be used in the establishment of base populations for the breeding of superior lines. The s ̂ ijvalue for TEW was highest for cross BALU-182 x Tropical, while for CEW was the highest value for cross BALU-94 x Mista.

RESUMO: O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o desempenho de testadores quanto à capacidade de discriminação de linhagens tropicais convertidas à superdoce, por meio da incorporação do gene shrunken (sh2), visando a produção de híbridos adaptados às condições tropicais. As linhagens utilizadas como parentais femininos foram os testadores: variedade de polinização aberta Mista; linhagem superdoce L4; híbrido comercial superdoce Tropical Plus. Os quatro experimentos foram conduzidos em Maringá - PR e Sabáudia - PR, na safra verão de 2015/16. As características avaliadas foram: Peso de espigas totais (PET, em kg), Peso de espigas comerciais (PEC, em kg) e sólidos solúveis totais (SST, em ºBrix). A linhagem L4 foi o testador que mais proporcionou efeito de heterose. As maiores estimativas de CGC para PET e PEC foram obtidas por L4. As linhagens Balu-114 e UEM-25 foram selecionados com base nos efeitos de g ̂ i para as características estudadas e deverão ser utilizados na formação de populações base para a extração de linhagens superiores. O cruzamento BALU-182 x Tropical apresentou o maior valor de s ̂ ijpara PET, enquanto o cruzamento BALU-94 x Mista obteve o melhor valor para PEC.

Growth and Productivity of Speciality Corn as Influenced by Different Levels of Nitrogen Under Pongamia Plantations.

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2011 at the Student’s Farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad on red sandy loam soils to study the effect of nitrogen management in speciality corn under Pongamia + maize agri-silvi system. All the growth and yield attributes such as plant height, dry matter production, leaf area index, cob length, cob girth, number of cobs plant-1, number of rows cob-1, number of kernals cob-1 and 100 kernel weight were found maximum at 120 kg N ha-1 than at the remaining nitrogen levels. Whereas, cob weight (with husk) was found maximum at 120 kg ha-1 but was on par with 90 kg N ha-1. Similarly cob yield (with husk), green fodder/stover yield, harvest index, kernel yield of popcorn and shelling percentage of popcorn were found significantly higher at 120 kg N ha-1 than the other two lower doses of nitrogen. The different types of corn were found significantly different from each other regarding growth parameters such as plant height, days to 50 per cent silking and days to maturity. Regarding the effect on yield attributes and yield, all the three types of corn were found significantly different from each other in cob length, cob girth, cob weight (with husk), green cob yield as well as green fodder/stover yield.

Effects of fertilizer application to sweet corn (Zea mays.) grown on sandy soil.

In our experiment we tried to find out what kind of eventual changes in the environment and in plant chemical composition occurred in response to different fertilizer treatments applied to sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata) grown on sandy soil with low humus content. The ploughed layer contained <1% CaCO3 and around 1% humus. The soil was very well supplied with P, well supplied with K, Mg, Mn and Cu, and weakly supplied with N and Ca. The treatments were planned in accordance with the recommendations, with a planned unhusked ear yield of 16 tons per hectare, of the new environmental friendly advisory system recently elaborated for field vegetable crops in Hungary. The treatments applied included: G1 (blank control) N0P0K0, G2 N222.5 P22.2 K143, G3 N445 P22.5 K143, G4 N222.5 P22.5 K143, G5 N222.5 P22.5 K286, G6 N222.5 P22.5 K143+Mg1.52. According to our findings, of the composition parameters of the grains of the treatments with no fertilizer application, the invert and reducing sugar contents (4.42%, respectively 2.59% relative to fresh weight-1) in grains were the highest among the treatments. The same conclusion was drawn on the K 120.2, Mg 13.3, Fe 0.24, Cu 0.66 mg 100 g-1 grain dry weight levels among minerals. In the case of the basic treatment (G2) recommended by the advisory system we obtained favourable results for the measured parameters, including yields. Invert and reducing sugar contents were (3.26% respectively 1.97% relative to fresh weight-1), and mineral contents K 101.9; Mg 11.8; Fe 0.21; Cu 0.56 mg 100 g-1 dry weight. In the grains, no translocation of toxic elements was observed in response to the direct or indirect effect of the treatments.

Molecular analysis of endophytic bacteria from the genus Bacillus isolated from tropical maize (Zea mays L. ) / Análise molecular de bactérias endofíticas do gênero Bacillus isoladas de milho tropical (Zea mays L. )

Endophytic bacteria play an important role in agriculture by improving plant performance and adaptation against biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study molecular methods were used for identifying Bacillus endophytic bacteria isolated from Brazilian sweet corn. SDS-PAGE of wholecell protein extract of fortytwo isolates revealed a high number of scrutinable bands. Twenty-four isolates were identified in nine different groups of duplicated bacteria and eighteen were identified as unique. Some high-accumulated polipeptides with variable length were observed in almost isolates. Partial sequencing of 16S ribosomal gene revealed that all isolates are Bacillus sp. and among thirteen isolates with similar protein profiles, two were different strains. Among the forty-two isolates identified by rDNA sequencing, Bacillus subitilis and B. pumilus were the most frequenty species (15 and 12 isolates, respectively) followed by B. licheniformes (7 isolates), B. cereus (5 isolates) and B. amiloliquefascens (3 isolates). According to present results, SDS-PAGE technique could be used as a fast and cheap first tool for identifying interspecific variation in maize endophytic bacterial collections while rDNA sequencing could be applied for analyzing intraspecific variation among isolates with similar protein profile as well as for taxonomic studies.

Bactérias endofíticas desempenham papel importante na agricultura, melhorando a performance e adaptação de plantas contra estresses bióticos e abióticos. No presente estudo, métodos moleculares foram empregados para identificar bactérias endofíticas do gênero Bacillus isoladas de cultivares de milho doce brasileiro. SDS-PAGE de extratos protéicos totais de quarenta e dois isolados revelaram elevado número de bandas escrutináveis. Vinte e quatro isolados formaram nove grupos diferentes de réplicas bactérianas e dezoito foram considerados como únicos. Entre os isolados, alguns polipeptídios, de tamanhos variados, foram altamente acumulados. Seqüenciamento parcial do gene ribosomal 16S revelou que todos os isolados pertencem ao gênero Bacillus e que, entre treze isolados com padrão protéico similar, dois eram linhagens diferentes. Entre os quarenta e dois isolados identificados por seqüenciamento de rDNA, Bacillus subtilis e B. pumilus foram mais frequentes (15 e 12 isolados, respectivamente), seguido por, B. licheniformes (7 isolados), B. cereus (5 isolados) e B. amiloliquefascens (3 isolados). Baseado nos resultados, conclui-se que a técnica de SDS-PAGE poderá ser usada como primeiro procedimento, rápido e barato, para identificar variação inter-específica em coleções de bactérias endofíticas isoladas do milho, enquanto o método de seqüenciamento de rDNA poderá ser aplicado para analisar variações intra-específica entre isolados com padões similares de proteínas e estudos de taxonomia.