Evaluating the Impact of Nitrogen Application on Growth and Productivity of Maize Under Control Conditions

Hafiz Mohkum Hammad; M Shakeel Chawla; Rashid Jawad; Asma Alhuqail; Hafiz Faiq Bakhat; Wajid Farhad; Faheema Khan; Muhammad Mubeen; Adnan N Shah; Ke Liu; Matthew T Harrison; Shah Saud; Shah Fahad

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.885479

Evaluating the Impact of Nitrogen Application on Growth and Productivity of Maize Under Control Conditions

Front Plant Sci. 2022 May 18:13:885479. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.885479. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Hafiz Mohkum Hammad¹, M Shakeel Chawla^{2

3}, Rashid Jawad⁴, Asma Alhuqail⁵, Hafiz Faiq Bakhat², Wajid Farhad⁶, Faheema Khan⁵, Muhammad Mubeen², Adnan N Shah⁷, Ke Liu⁸, Matthew T Harrison⁸, Shah Saud⁹, Shah Fahad^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan, Multan, Pakistan.
² Department of Environmental Science, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari, Pakistan.
³ Army Public School and College Mailsi Garrison, Mailsi, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Horticulture, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan.
⁵ Chair of Climate Change, Environmental Development and Vegetation Cover, Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Agronomy, University College of Dera Murad Jamali Naseerabad, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Agricultural Engineering, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan.
⁸ Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Burnie, TAS, Australia.
⁹ College of Life Science, Linyi University, Linyi, China.
¹⁰ Hainan Key Laboratory for Sustainable Utilization of Tropical Bioresource, College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
¹¹ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan.

Abstract

Climatic conditions significantly affect the maize productivity. Among abiotic factors, nitrogen (N) fertilizer and temperature are the two important factors which dominantly affect the maize (Zea mays L.) production during the early crop growth stages. Two experiments were conducted to determine the impact of N fertilizer and temperature on the maize growth and yield. In the first experiment, the maize hybrids were screened for their sensitivity to temperature variations. The screening was based on the growth performance of the hybrids under three temperatures (T ₁ = ambient open-air temperature, T ₂ = 1°C higher than the ambient temperature, and T ₃ = 1°C lower than the ambient temperature) range. The results showed that an increase in temperature was resulted less 50% emergence and mean emergence (4.1 and 6.3 days, respectively), while emergence energy and full emergence were higher (25.4 and 75.2%, respectively) under the higher temperature exposure. The results showed that Syngenta 7720 and Muqabla S 25W87 were temperature tolerant and sensitive maize hybrids, respectively. The second experiment was carried out to study the response of the two selected maize hybrids (Syngenta 7720 and Muqabla S 25W87) to four N fertilizer applications. The results revealed that the maximum N use efficiency (19.5 kg kg^-1) was achieved in maize hybrids with low N application (75 kg N ha^-1 equivalent to 1.13 g N plant^-1). However, the maximum maize grain yield (86.4 g plant^-1), dry weight (203 g plant^-1), and grain protein content (15.0%) were observed in maize hybrids that were grown with the application of 300 kg N ha^-1 (equivalent to 4.52 g N plant^-1). Therefore, it is recommended that the application of 300 kg N ha^-1 to temperature tolerant maize hybrid may be considered best agricultural management practices for obtaining optimum maize grain yield under present changing climate.

Keywords: best management practices; climate variability; maize yield production; nitrogen; protein content.