PERFORMANCE OF AUTUMN PLANTED MAIZE HYBRIDS UNDER DIFFERENT FERTILIZER TREATMENTS IN SEMI-ARID PUNJAB- PAKISTAN

Optimizing the fertilizer rates is necessary to achieve optimal yield potential of a cultivar. A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of different NPK fertilizer rates on the growth and yield of two maize hybrids during autumn season, 2012 in agro-ecological conditions of Faisalabad, Punjab-Pakistan. Two maize hybrids namely Monsanto-6789 and Pioneer30Y87 were tested using different fertilizer rates viz., F1 (200:100:90 kg NPK ha), F2 (250:125:110 kg NPK ha ), F3 (300:150:130 kg NPK ha) and F4 (350:175:150 kg NPK ha). Treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design under factorial arrangement replicated thrice. Results revealed that increasing the level of fertilizer up till F3 enhanced the crop yield and its related attributes. Maximum 1000-grains weight (255.4 g), grain yield (6.9 t ha) and biological yield (20.97 t ha) were observed in F3 (300:150:130 kg NPK ha). Whereas, among different hybrids, Pioneer30Y87 outperformed Monsanto-6789 regarding number of grain rows per cob, cob diameter, grains per cob, 1000-grains weight and grain yield. On interactive basis, Pioneer-30Y87× F3 proved the best combination regarding all studied attributes. Furthermore, highest economic net benefits were also associated with the same treatment combination. Conclusively, of the factors included in this study, maize hybrids and NPK fertilization treatments were dominant in determining grain yield as well as its related components, suggesting that cultivar selection and optimum fertilization are effective strategies to improve grain yield. However, multi-location and multi-year studies are required to test these results using different cultivars under varying soil and climatic conditions.