Agronomic performance of maize (Zea maize L.) under varying fertility and silicon levels in typic haplustepts

This investigation was conducted to assess the impacts of altering fertility and silicon levels on agronomic performance of maize at the Instructional Farm of Rajasthan College of Agriculture, (MPUAT), Udaipur in a kharif season of 2022 and 2023. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three replications. Treatments consists of four fertility levels i.e. control, 50, 75, and 100% RDF in main plots and four silicon levels i.e. control, 100, 200, and 300 kg diatomaceous earth ha-1 in subplots. The experimental results revealed that the application of 100% recommended dose of fertilizer significantly increased plant height, dry matter accumulation, grains cob-1, cob weight, seed index and shelling percentage as compared to the control. However, the application of 300 kg Diatomaceous Earth ha-1 showed a significant increase in plant height, dry matter accumulation, grains cob-1, cob weight, seed index and peel percentage compared to the control.