Response of zea maize to bio-organic and N fertilizer in sandy soils

Two field experiments were conducted in sandy soil during 2002/03 growing seasons to study the response of maize plants to bio-organic, N and P, K fertilization. Two different kinds of compost, maize and wheat compost were used at the rate of 5 ton/fed. The experiment design was split-split plot with 4 replications. Compost treatments (0 and 5 ton/fed) of maize and wheat compost were assigned in the main plots whereas N-fertilizer rates (0, 45, 90 and 135 N/fed) and PK rates (0, 31 kg P2O5 + 48 kg K2O/fed) were randomly distributed in sub and sub-sub plots, respectively. Vegetative and yield characters were measured during plant growth and at harvest. Results showed that applying compost at 5 ton/fed improved plant growth and ear height and induced earlier tasseling and silking. It also, led to a significant increase in yield/fed. Increasing N rate up to 135 kg N/fed markedly increased both plant and ear height, ear length, ear diameter, number of rows/ear, grain yield/fed. It also induced early flowering two growing seasons. The same trend applying phosphorus and potassium level.