Good Agriculture Practices of Maize crop
Good Agriculture Practices of Maize crop
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important cereal grains grown worldwide. Maize can adapt to wider range of environments. Maize is consumed mainly as food source recently grown for as fodder and has become the most important raw material for animal feed such silage.
Soil and Climate: Well-drained deep fertile soils rich in organic matter are the most suitable but maize can also be grown on variety of soils. Soil pH with 7.5 -8.5 supports good crop growth. Maize is Kharif season crop but with the latest production technologies and new hybrid cultivars winter cultivation of maize is also made possible.
Seeds varieties:
Pioneer P Series like 3396,1844,3401,3552 et, Dekalb varieties, PAC seeds, Kaveri seeds, etc. Link can be clicked to know more about varieties
https://www.bighaat.com/collections/corn-seeds
Seed treatment with some protective agents may still help better germination, good survivability and also better yields. For chemical treatment seeds can be soaked in Ridomet 25 gm + Plantomycin 20 gm + Humic Acid [Humesol] 100 mL per kg of seeds [mixture before sowing]. This will avoid the downy mildew disease of maize crop.
https://www.bighaat.com/products/ridomet-fungicide + https://www.bighaat.com/products/plantomycin-bactericide-aries-agro + https://www.bighaat.com/products/humesol-fungicide
Manures and fertilizers:
Prepare the main field by ploughing and harrowing and add 8 to 10 tonnes per acre Farmyard manure or compost is applied at the time of field preparation. Apply well rotten farm yard manure / compost @ 6-8 t/acre, 120-150 kg Bio organic Manure + 5-10 kg Humic acids granules [Ecohume Gr] https://www.bighaat.com/products/ecohume-gr-bioactive-humic-substances-1-5-granules
Recommended dose of Fertilizer Application: NPK – 40:20:20 kg/ per acre
Major Nutrients
|
Combination 1 |
kg |
|
Urea (46 % N) |
69.9 |
|
DAP (18 % N; 46 % P2O5) |
43.5 |
|
MOP (60 % K2O) |
33.3 |
|
Combination 2 |
kg |
|
10:26:26' |
76.9 |
|
Urea (46 % N) |
70.2 |
|
MOP (60 % K2O) |
0.0 |
|
Combination 3 |
kg |
|
20:20:00' |
100.0 |
|
Urea (46 % N) |
43.5 |
|
MOP (60 % K2O) |
33.3 |
Note:
- Apply 50 % of urea during sowing time along with other recommended fertilizers and apply remaining quantity of Urea on crop at knee height stage.
- Supply at least 50 % of Nitrogen requirement through ammonium sulphate
Secondary Nutrients [Soil Conditioners] 50 kg/acre[ products containing Calcium, Magnesium and Sulphur nutrients]
Micronutrients [Micronutrient Mixtures] 5- 10 kg per acre Aries multi micronutrient fertilizer
https://www.bighaat.com/products/aries-agromin-micro-nutrient-fertilizer
Plant Protection
Cutworms/ Fall army worm Spodoptera spp. is major pest so it has to be managed.
Following chemicals may be used to kill the pest. Spraying in the evening will be effective since they come out to feed in the night times.
Coragen 0.33 mL/L OR Rilon 0.5 gm/L + Neemark 1 % 1 mL/L
https://www.bighaat.com/products/coragen-dupont OR https://www.bighaat.com/products/rilon-insecticide + https://www.bighaat.com/products/neemark-neem-pesticide-10000-ppm
OR 
The army worm will be dwelling in the soil and will be coming out to feed the baiting technique may be an effective method to kill them. As the bait has attractant jaggery the larvae gets attracted to jaggery, feed on the bait mixture and will be killed avoiding them to feed on the corn. Bait mixture must be evenly broadcasted evenly all over the maize plot.
The process of baiting can be a mixture of 3 components,
- Poison (Insecticide): 2. Carrier or base (Rice bran), and Attractant (Jaggery) at ratio of 1:10:1. Mix all the items with given ratio to prepare the bait mixture.
The poison may a stomach poison insecticide can be used like Malathion or Phoskill
https://www.bighaat.com/products/malathion-50-e-c-insecticide OR https://www.bighaat.com/products/upl-phoskill-insecticide
OR
Maize stem borer is also major pest may times the pest may be managed
The symptoms of the images of maize are the infestation of the stem borer larvae. Severe infestation or infestation if not managed the maize plants apical stem die and symptom is called Dead heart disease. Further growth and development is halted ears won’t form. Larvae mines into the internal tissues and feed.
Apply Furadon or Caladan 4 g granules 5-8 gm per plant in to the apical growing tips to kill the pest and soil application of 5 kg per acre
https://www.bighaat.com/products/fmc-furadan-insecticide OR https://www.bighaat.com/products/dhanuka-caldan-4g-insecticide
Spray with
https://www.bighaat.com/search?type=product&q=Phoskill + https://www.bighaat.com/products/ahaar-plant-nutrient + https://www.bighaat.com/search?type=product&q=*spraywell
Weed Management: Atrazine- 3 g /litre (Pre-emergent herbicide)- Spray - on sowing or next day after sowing. Selective herbicide 2-4 d salt can be sprayed after 15-20 days of sowing.
https://www.bighaat.com/products/atrataf-herbicide
https://www.bighaat.com/products/weedmar-80-herbicide
Harvesting:
The maize is harvested when cob-sheath turns brownish, grains become hard and they do not contain more than 20 percent moisture in them.
K SANJEEVA REDDY,
Senior Agronomist, BigHaat.
Disclaimer: The performance of the product (s) is subject to usage as per manufacturer guidelines. Read enclosed leaflet of the product(s) carefully before use. The use of this product(s)/ information is at the discretion of user.
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