Management practices discussed for kharif and rabi maize are summerised as package of practices for maize production.
Package of Production Practices for Kharif Maize:
Tillage:
1. A clean, deeply ploughed but firm seedbed is ideal.
2. Ridge sowing is recommended to avoid crop damage due to waterlogging.
3. Shallow drainage channels may be provided at suitable intervals to minimise loss due to waterlogging.
Cultivars:
1. Hybrid maize cultivars, well adapted to a particular region, would be profitable under several situations.
2. Birsa vikas makka 2, Shalimar KG maize 1, HM 4, HM 5, Pusa hybrid 5, Vivek 15 and Vivek 16 are the relatively latest hybrids.
3. AP kharif
Hybrids:
DHM 103, DHM 105,Thrisulatha, Ganga 11, Bio 9681, PRO 311, JK 2492, DHM 107, KH 755, KH 510, KH 9451, DHM 109, PEHM 2, MMH 133, PAC 701.
Composites:
Harsha, Navjot, Varun, Prabhat, Kiran, Mahi, Kanchan.
Seeds and Seeding:
1. Mid-May to mid-June for peninsular region, mid-June for northeastern plains and April to early- May for hilly regions appears to be ideal.
2. Kharif irrigated maize should be sown about a fortnight before onset of monsoon for timely intercultivation and crop establishment leading to high yields.
3. Late-August is ideal for kharif irrigated maize in Punjab.
4. Row seeding with a spacing of 75 x 18 or 60 x 22 cm using a seed rate of 20-22 kg ha-1 is optimum for rainfed maize. For kharif-irrigated maize, a row spacing of 60 x 18 cm with a seed rate of 22-25 kg ha-1 is optimum.
5. Ideal seeding depth is 5 to 7 cm
Fertiliser Schedule:
1. Apply 100-120 N, 60 P2 O5 and 40 K2 O kg ha-1 for full season maturity maize, 80-100 N, 50 P2 O5 and 30 K2 O kg ha-1 for medium group, 60-80 N, 30 P2 O5 and 20 K2 O kg ha-1 for early maturity and 40-60 N, 20 P2 O5 and 20 K2 O kg ha-1 for extra early maize.
2. Apply N in 3 splits: ¼ of the recommended dose at sowing, half at knee-height stage and the remaining ¼ at tasseling. Fertiliser to be applied 10 cm away from the row and 8-10 cm deep into the soil.
3. Entire recommended dose of phosphorus and potassium should be applied at sowing by placement/drilling.
Weed Management:
1. First 3-4 weeks after sowing is the critical period of weed competition.
2. Combination of Alachlor (1.5-2.0 kg ha-1) + Atrazine (1.0 kg ha-1) is more effective on broad spectrum of weeds.
3. One or two timely inter-cultivations followed by herbicides, if necessary, appear to be more effective for minimising weed problem.
Cropping Systems:
1. Important rainfed crop sequences are maize-wheat, maize-safflower, jute-maize, rice-maize and maze-groundnut.
2. Short duration pulse varieties of greengram, blackgram, soybean or cowpea, oilseeds such as groundnut and sasame and vegetable crop can be grown as intercrops with maize.
Package of Production Practices for Rabi Maize:
Tillage:
1. A clean, deeply ploughed but firm seedbed is ideal.
2. Formation of ridges and furrows, as per spacing between rows, with appropriate gradient to remove excess water after irrigation.
Cultivars:
1. Since the crop is not going to be affected by rainfall vagaries, high yielding hybrids must be selected.
2. Cultivars selected should fit into the proposed intensive cropping system.
3. AP rabi.
Hybrids:
Ganga 11, DHM 103, DHM 105, Trishulatha, KH 5991, KH 5981, X 1382.
Composites:
Dhawal, Renuka.
Seeds and Seeding:
1. In general, ideal sowing time is from mid-October to 10 November.
2. For rabi maize, a row spacing of 60 x 18 cm (ridges and furrows) with a seed rate of 22-25 kg ha-1 is optimum.
3. Seeds should be sown half way between top and bottom of the ridge, 5 to 7 cm deep in the soil.
Fertiliser Schedule:
1. Irrespective of crop maturity group, apply 120-150 N, 60 P2 O5 and 40 K2 O kg ha-1 for rabi maize.
2. Entire recommended dose of phosphorus and potassium should be applied at sowing by placement.
3. Apply N in 3 splits: ¼ of the recommended dose at sowing, half at knee-height stage and the remaining ¼ at tasseling. Fertiliser to be applied 10 cm away from the row and 8-10 cm deep into the soil.
Water Management:
1. Maize can tolerate water deficits during vegetative and ripening stages.
2. Most critical state for irrigation is flowering (15-20 days) including tasseling, silking and pollination.
3. Waterlogging should be avoided, particularly during flowering and grain development.
Weed Management:
1. First 3-4 weeks after sowing is the critical period of weed competition.
2. Combination of Alachlor (1.5-2.0 hg ha-1) + Atrazine (1.0 kg ha-1) is more effective on broad spectrum of weeds.
3. One or two timely intercultivations followed by herbicides, if necessary, appear to be more effective for minimising weed problem.
Cropping Systems:
1. Important two crop sequences under irrigation are maize-wheat, rice-maize and maize-potato.
2. Major three crop sequences are maize-potato-wheat, maize-wheat-sunflower, maize- sugarcane-moongbean and maize-groundnut-vegetables.