Open Access

ARTICLE

Various Organic Nutrient Sources in Combinations with Inorganic Fertilizers Influence the Yield and Quality of Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. saccharata) in New Alluvial Soils of West Bengal, India

by Anindita Das¹, Kanu Murmu², Biplab Mitra³, Pintoo Bandopadhyay², Ritesh Kundu⁴, Moupiya Roy⁵, Saleh Alfarraj⁶, Mohammad Javed Ansari⁷, Marian Brestic⁸, Akbar Hossain^9,*

1 Department of Agronomy, School of Agricultural Sciences, JIS University, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, 741235, India
2 Department of Agronomy, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, West Bengal, 741252, India
3 Department of Agronomy, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Coochbehar, West Bengal, 736101, India
4 Office of The Assistant Director of Agriculture, Gosaba Block, Arampur, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, 743370, India
5 Department of Agricultural Statistics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, West Bengal, 741252, India
6 Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
7 Department of Botany, Hindu College Moradabad (Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly), Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, 244001, India
8 Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, Nitra, 949 01, Slovak
9 Division of Soil Science, Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Dinajpur, 5200, Bangladesh

* Corresponding Author: Akbar Hossain. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Integrated Nutrient Management in Cereal Crops)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2024, 93(4), 763-776. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.049473

Received 09 January 2024; Accepted 19 March 2024; Issue published 29 April 2024

Abstract

Nutrient management plays a crucial role in the yield and quality of sweet corn. A field experiment was conducted in consecutive two kharif seasons in 2018 and 2019 to investigate the effect of various organic sources of nutrients in combination with inorganic sources on the yield and quality of sweet corn under new alluvial soils of West Bengal, India. Treatments were: T: Control (without fertilizers); T: 100% recommended dose (RDF) of chemical fertilizers (CF) (RDF CF); T: 100% recommended dose of N (RDN) through vermicompost (VC) (RDN VC); T: 50 RDN through CF + 50% RDN through VC (RDN CF + RDN VC); T: 50% RDF through CF + 50% RDN through organic source (OS)1, Soligro (Ascophyllum nodosum) granular (RDN CF + RDN OS); T: 50% RDN through CF + 50% RDN through OS 2, Bioenzyme (liquid) (RDN CF + RDN OS); T: 50% RDN through CF + 50% RDN through OS 3, Opteine (Ascophyllum nodosum) filtrate [RDN CF + RDN OS]; T: 50% RDN through VC + 50% RDF through OS 1, Soligro (Ascophyllum nodosum) granular (RDN VC + RDN OS). The OS of fertilizers were VC, SoliGro Gr (OS1) (Ascophyllum nodosum), Bioenzyme liquid (OS2), and Opteine (Ascophyllum nodosum) filtrate (OS3). The inorganic source was traditional CF applied at the RDF (150:75:75 kg ha of N: PO:KO). The VC was used to supply 100% RDN as one source or 50% RDN when combined with CF or OS. Maximum fruit yield (10.75 and 10.79 t ha in 2018 and 2019, respectively) was recorded when RDF was substituted through CF only, being statistically at par with 50% CF + 50% VC on a nitrogen equivalent basis (9.92 and 10.00 t ha in 2018 and 2019, respectively) and 100% VC (8.22 and 8.32 t ha in 2018 and 2019, respectively). Compared to chemical sources of nutrients, VC-based treatments produced a larger percentage of large-size cob (>25 cm). The 100% VC increased antioxidant (8.35 and 8.45 mg g), carotenoid (0.59 and 0.61 mg/100 g), and phenol (55.06 and 55.02 mg 100 g) content compared with its 50% dose in combination with other sources. The study revealed the potentiality of organic sources towards achieving improved cob quality of sweet corn.

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