Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXIII, Issue 1
Written by Alexander MATEV, Nikolay MINEV
The aim of the study is to study the effect of different nitrogen fertilization rates on the productivity of maize grown under non-irrigation conditions in the Plovdiv area. The experiment was conducted in the period 2004-2007 in the AUPlovdiv on alluvial-meadow soil. The following fertilization levels N0, N8, N16 and N24 were tested. As a source of nitrogen, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) was used. The results show that as the fertilizer rate increases, the yield increases, with N8 increasing between 1 and 5% and N16 between 2 and 8%. The difference between N16 and N24 is less than 2%, with the average for the four years practically coinciding (907 and 908 kg/da, respectively). A squire relationship between the fertilization rate and the yield was established at R2 = 0.732. From an economic point of view, the best results are obtained at N0 and N16, which gives reason to believe that in the Plovdiv area, fertilization of maize under non-irrigation conditions is ineffective. The highest nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency (NFUE) was obtained at N16, with an average yield of 2,375 kg/da from every 1 kg/da of nitrogen. Slightly lower (5.5%) is NFUE at N8. Nitrogen fertilization rates have little impact on the 1000 seeds weight and test weight.
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