Vol. 8, Issue 8, Part Q (2024)

Abstract: Supply of nano scale nutrients to plants has become one of the major sustainable practices for achieving higher yields while minimizing the conventional fertilizer usage and for achieving food security and economic sustainability. Unraveling the effectiveness of such technology on the nutrient exhaustive crop like maize is essential. With that background the Nano nitrogen and phosphorous influence on growth, yield and economics of Maize was conducted at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru during 2021 with 9 different combinations of conventional and nano nitrogen and phosphorous combinations under Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The study revealed that application of 75% Recommended Dose of Nitrogen (RDN) + Nano-Nitrogen recorded significantly higher plant height (272.2 cm), number of leaves plant^-1 (8.5), total dry matter production (491.8 g plant^-1), LAI (3.9), number of kernels cob^-1 (625.3) and weight of kernels cob^-1 (255.2 g), finally resulting higher maize yield (9654 kg ha^-1). The same treatment also resulted in higher amount of net returns (Rs. 143370 ha^-1) and BC ratio (4.20). Replacing 25% of the RDN by two foliar spray of nano nitrogen significantly enhances the yield and improves the efficiency of applied nitrogen.