Sustainable Maize Production: Evaluating Nitrogen Levels and Slow-Release Fertilizer Effects in Nepal

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 4, 988 - 998

Krisha Dotel , Sunil Chhantyal Surya Bahadur Thapa Sanisha Poudel Sabina Raut

https://doi.org/10.31015/2025.4.1

Abstract

The decline in crop productivity and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has been attributed to improper fertilizer application balance and inappropriate fertilizer sources. A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of different nitrogen levels and Urea Deep Placement (UDP) on the growth and yield of maize (Rampur composite). A single-factor Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used to set up the experiment, which consisted of eight treatments with three replications. The outcomes demonstrated that the treatment combination significantly affected the plant height and number of leaves only at 60 DAS, yield attributes, and grain yield of maize. Likewise, the findings revealed that 180:60:40 NPK kg ha-1 obtained the highest grain yield of 8.08 t ha-1, followed by 240:60:40 NPK kg ha-1 with 7.35 t ha-1, whereas the control group displayed the lowest yield of 4 t ha-1. The recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) demonstrates an equivalent yield of 6.53 t ha-1 with UDP, which is a 25% lower nitrogen dose than RDF. Growth and yield increase with increasing nitrogen levels up to 180 kg N ha-1, but further increases of nitrogen lead to a negative impact on it. Therefore, this research showed that the treatment 180:60:40 kg NPK ha-1 was the most appropriate for producing maize in the spring season at Gothgaun, Morang.

Keywords

Grain yield , Maize , Nitrogen , Nitrogen use efficiency , Urea deep placement

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