Kailash Raman Bhatt*, Birendra Kumar Bhattachan, Santosh Marahatta, Jagat Bandhu Adhikari
A field experiment was carried out during the spring season of 2017 at research field of National Maize Research Programme (NARC), Rampur, Chitwan to evaluate the effect of sole and combined applications of different organic and inorganic fertilizers on growth parameters and profitability maize cultivation practices. The recommended dose of nitrogen (120 kg ha-1) was supplied through Urea, Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and Poultry Manures (PM) in different ratios. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having four replications and eight treatments; i.e., T1 (120 kg N ha-1 as Urea), T2 (60 kg N ha-1 as Urea+60 kg N ha-1 as FYM), T3 (60 kg N ha-1 as Urea+60 kg N ha-1 as PM), T4 (60 kg N ha-1 as FYM+60 kg N ha-1 as PM), T5 (60 kg N ha-1 as FYM+30kg N ha-1 as Urea+30 kg N ha-1 as PM), T6 (60 kg N ha-1 as Urea+30 kg N ha-1 as PM+30 kg N ha-1 as FYM), T7 (60 kg N ha-1 as PM+30 kg N ha-1 as FYM+30 kg N ha-1 as Urea) and T8 (Control /no nitrogen application). The research result showed that, the growth parameters such as plant height, leaf area index and biomass accumulation were found higher at the plot fertilized with combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers as compared to control. Likewise, days to tasseling (62.5 days), days to silking (68.0 days) and anthesis silking interval (3.5 days) were also found earlier with the same treatments. Similarly, biological yield (10.12 t ha-1), net return (NRs 42.57) and B: C ratio (1.58) were comparatively superior at T3 (60 kg N ha-1 as Urea+60 kg N ha-1 as PM). Therefore, based on the research treatments, application of 120 kg nitrogen through combinations of 60 kg N ha-1 as Urea+60 kg N ha-1 as PM were found best combinations of fertilizers in inner terai conditions Nepal.