Bendangla Imsong
Subject Matter Specialist
KVK Wokha
Maize is an ideal forage crop grown throughout the country. It produces good quality herbaceous fodder with high palatability. It is quick growing high yielding and supplies palatable and nutritious forage which can be fed at any stage of growth without any risk to animals. It can be fed as green or dry and makes excellent silage. On an average, it contains 9-10% Crude Protein, 60-64% Neutral Detergent Fibre, 38-41% Acid Detergent Fibre, 23-25% hemicellulose, and 28-30% cellulose on dry matter basis when harvested at milk to early-dough stage. It is one of the best cereal fodder crops grown during summer, rainy and/or early winter season. With its high content of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, some of the important vitamins and minerals, maize acquired a well-deserved reputation as queen of cereals. However, in spite of several important uses, maize has an in-built drawback of being deficient in two essential amino acids, viz., lysine and tryptophan. This leads to poor net protein utilization and low biological value of traditional maize genotypes. To overcome this problem, the maize breeders have developed quality protein maize (QPM) by incorporating opaque-2 mutant gene, which is particularly responsible for enhancing lysine and tryptophan content of maize endosperm protein. Quality protein maize looks and taste like normal maize with same or higher yield potential, but it contains nearly twice the quantity of essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, which makes it rich in quality proteins.
Package of Practices for Increasing Productivity of Rabi/Winter HQPM:
Choice of Cultivar: The success and the level of profit from rabi crop depend to a great extent on the choice of the maize hybrid/composite to be grown. Open-pollinated varieties traditionally grown in kharif are not likely to give high yield in rabi. Farmers should therefore be encouraged to sow only high yielding hybrids suitable for rabi season. The use of F1 hybrid seed is essential for realizing high yield. The recommended hybrids, in general, have given 60 to 80% or more grain yield than the local varieties in most of the evaluation trials, with an average yield level of 6 tonnes or more per hectare.
Sowing in Rabi Season: The choice of optimum date of sowing which is more important in rabi than in kharif sowing, however, varies with the location. It generally ranges from 3rd week of October to 2nd week of November
Fertilizer Application: The efficiency of nitrogen utilization is better in rabi than in kharif, primarily because of better water management and lower leaching losses. The available quantity of farmyard manure should be applied before sowing, since a combination of organic manure and inorganic fertilizers give better results than the use of fertilizers along.
Dose of Fertilizers: The quantity of fertilizers to be applied depends mainly on soil fertility and the preceding field management. In general, a balanced application of 120:60:40 kg/ha of NPK is recommended.
Method of Fertilizers Application: One-fourth of nitrogen and the total quantity of phosphorus and potash should be applied before sowing. The rest of the nitrogen should be applied in two equal doses. Half of the total nitrogen (60 kg N/ha) should be top-dressed at knee-high stage, while the rest of the nitrogen should be applied with the emergence of the flag-leaf. Nitrogen in the form of urea should be carefully applied 15-20 cm away from the plants to avoid any leaf injury. Best response from nitrogen is obtained when the top-dresses fertilizer is covered with light soil after application.
Seed Rate and Spacing: A 60 kg seed is required for one hectare and the seed should be sown in lines spaced at 30 cm. A population of 90,000 plants/ha at harvest is desirable for realizing high grain yield in rabi. Before sowing, seeds should be soaked over-night in warm water (45oC at the time of seed soaking). This treatment helps in obtaining better plant stand and healthy crop. Seeds should be sown 4-5 cm deep.
Weed Control: Same as weed control practiced for kharif HQPM.
Irrigation Schedule: Timely availability of assured irrigation is one of the major factors determining the success to crop. Four to six irrigations are needed during the rabi crop season. If six irrigations are given, they should be applied at the following crop growth stages
Two irrigations up to flowering at an interval of 20-25 days
One (essential) at the time of flowering
Two after flowering
One at early grain filling
Plant Protection:
Disease: Diseases problem in Rabi maize is comparatively less. However, leaf blight and common rust occur in moderate to high intensity. Post flowering stalk rots, particularly charcoal-rot occur predominantly in late sown crop, especially when the temperatures at maturity is high and the crop is subjected to soil-moisture stress. The best remedy to minimize yield loss due to these diseases is to grow resistant varieties. For charcoal not management, water stress should be avoided at post-flowering stage; 3-4 sprays of Dithane M-45 effectively reduce rust and turicum leaf blight intensity in susceptible varieties.
Insect pests: Maize grown in rabi is known to be free from the attack of any major insect pests that usually affect the kharif crop. However, two borers, Chilo partellus and Sesemia inferens are major pests. Management practice is the same as adopted for kharif maize
Conclusion: For optimizing fodder production and availability, one should use quality seeds of high yielding varieties/hybrids of fodder crops, follow recommended agronomical practices of cultivation, follow suitable crop rotation, sow legume as an inter-crop or as a mixed crop with a non-legume crop to enhance the nutritional value of fodder and improve soil fertility, harvest fodder at the appropriate stage to get the maximum nutrients. With the adoption of the scientific cultivation practices, high productivity and profitability can be ensured.
