Fodder maize (Zea mays L.) growth, yield and quality as influenced by foliar application of nano urea and urea under varying levels of nitrogen

A field experiment on “Fodder maize (Zea mays L.) growth, yield and quality as influenced by foliar application of nano urea and urea under varying levels of nitrogen” was conducted during kharif 2022 at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, V. C. Farm, Mandya, Karnataka. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with eleven treatments replicated thrice. Treatments include varied levels of recommended dose of N (50, 75 and 100%) along with foliar application of nano urea (0.2% and 0.4%) and urea (2%) spray at 20 and 40 DAS, in comparison with RDF alone and control (RDF without N). The application of 100% recommended dose of N + Urea @ 2% spray recorded significantly higher growth parameters such as leaf: stem ratio, SPAD reading, growth indices like leaf area index, absolute growth rate and crop growth rate, green fodder yield and dry matter yield over RDF alone and was on par with 100% recommended dose of N + Nano urea @ 0.4% spray at harvest. Significantly higher crude protein yield, total digestible crude protein yield and total carbohydrate yield was recorded in 100% recommended dose of N + Urea @ 2% spray and was on par with 100% recommended dose of N + Nano urea @ 0.4% spray. Higher net returns and B:C ratio (70,945 Rs ha^-1 and 2.97 respectively) was observed with application of 100% recommended dose of N + Urea @ 2% spray over rest of the treatments.