PERFORMANCE OF MAIZE (Zea mays L.) YIELD ATTRIBUTES UNDER VARIOUS TILLAGE STRATEGIES

Abstract

Tillage is one of the most important practices in agriculture which is done mainly to mix the soil with organic residues and fertilizers, to control weeds, loosen the upper layer of soil, and to create a suitable seedbed for germination and plant growth. The present study was conducted in 2011-2012 at research area of soil and environmental sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in randomized complete block design (RCBD) having three treatments of minimum tillage (MT), conventional tillage (CT) and deep tillage (DT) with three replicates to evaluate the performance of Maize (Zea mays L.) yield attributes and absorption of different nutrients under various tillage strategies. Maximum effect of tillage practices was observed in the CT and DT that gives the maximum number of leaves, plant height, plant biomass as well as straw yield. The effect of different tillage practices on the harvest index of maize crop was significant. The grain yield of maize was more in case of DT (7.24 ton ha^-1) as compared to CT (7.22 ton ha^-1) and MT (6.44 ton ha^-1). Deep tillage showed better results with reference to performance of maize crop as compared to conventional and minimum tillage.