Foliar spray of urea and nano-urea on the growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.)

The application of urea is tremendously increasing globally, which leads to higher nitrous oxide emissions. Hence, the researchers suggest applying nitrogen through foliar spray to improve efficiency and loss and avoid excess emission. However, the effect of nitrogen fertilization of soil application combined with foliar spray of maize crop in this field investigation was conducted at the research field, Department of Agronomy, SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, Chengalpattu, India during the rabi season of 2024, to study the “Effect of foliar spray of urea and nano-urea on the growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.)”. The Experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with seven treatments replicated thrice. Hybrid NK 6802 maize seed was selected for this experiment. The study revealed that the treatment T4: 75% RDF foliar spray of urea @ 1% at knee height and tasselling stage, recorded significantly highest Plant height (139.83 cm), Leaf Area Index (3.707), Total Dry Matter Production (94.32 g), SPAD value (38.74), Total Chlorophyll Content (1.34), Cob length (19 cm), Number of grains per row (24.67), Number of rows per cob (14.43), Grain yield (6415 kg/ha), as well as improving nitrogen content, nutrient uptake and its efficiency. Therefore, for improved phenology, growth, yield and yield attributes and profitability of maize, nitrogen fertilizer applied as soil and foliar application has been structured as per this pattern of uptake to avoid losses by leaching and the crop response absorbs the higher amount of nutrients.