Influence of potassium, zinc and FYM on growth, yield, nutrient contents and uptake by forage maize (Zea mays L.) grown on loamy sand soil

The pot experiment was carried out during summer season of the year 2015 at B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand on loamy sand soil to study the influence of potassium, zinc and FYM on growth, yield, nutrient contents and uptake by forage maize (Zea mays L.). Eighteen treatments comprising with three levels of K2O (0, 30 and 60 kg ha-1) and Zn (0, 10 and 20 kg ha-1) and two levels of FYM (0 and 10 t ha-1) were tried in factorial completely randomized design with three replications. The experimental results revealed that the application of K2O @ 60 kg ha-1, Zn @ 20 kg ha-1 and FYM @ 10 t ha-1 recorded significantly higher plant height, green forage yield, dry matter yield and N, P, K uptake by plant over control. The highest K content in plant was recorded with the application of K2O @ 60 kg ha-1 than rest of the levels of K2O at 30 DAS and harvest. However, the application of FYM @ 10 t ha-1 and zinc @ 20 kg ha-1 recorded significantly higher N content at 30 DAS and at harvest.