USE ECO-FRIENDLY COATED NITROGEN FERTILIZERS ENHANCED MAIZE PLANTS YIELD PRODUCTIVITY

A field experiment was carried out on a clay soil at El- Giza Agricultural Research Station, El Giza, Egypt cultivated with maize variety of single three cross 324 hybrids (Zea mase L.) during the growing summer season of 2018 and 2019, to study the potential benefit of applied different forms and doses of nitrogen (i.e., coated urea + starch; urea + gypsum + elemental Sulphur; ammonium sulphate + gypsum + elemental sulfur; Ammonium sulphate + starch; uploaded ammonium sulphate + zeolite and ammonium sulphate and urea without treated on maize of growth parameters, yield, some yield attributes, yield quality and nitrogen used efficiency. The applied treatments of the studied nitrogen were coated and uploaded, with special reference to the control treatment (an ammonium sulphate and urea without treated). Plants were planted into plots with an area 10.5 m2 (3×3.5 m) in a split-split plot design, three replicas for each treatment. All nitrogen used previously recorded was added for all treatments. Soil plots were ploughed twice in two ways after received superphosphate fertilizer (15 % P2O5) at a rate of 200 kg acre-1. Also, potassium sulphate (48 % K2O) was added at a rate of 100 kg acre-1 in two equal doses, i.e., after 15 and 40 days from planting at different rates for each treatment 100% N (recommended dose at rate of 120 kg acre-1), 75 and 50% N from recommended dose.

Data obtained showed that:

Applied nitrogen forms, coated or uploaded, results revealed a trend similar to all parameters of growth, nutritional status, yield, yield quality and application management of maize plants grown in clay soil, the studied nitrogen sources followed the descending order: urea + starch > ammonium sulphate + zeolite > urea +gypsum + elemental sulphur ≥ ammonium sulphate + gypsum + elemental sulfur > Ammonium sulphate + starch > ammonium sulphate > urea; respectively under all nitrogen applied rates used.

From aforementioned results, it can be concluded that the application of urea or ammonium sulphate nitrogen either in coated or uploaded forms specially urea + starch and ammonium uploaded under 75% nitrogen rate of application increased maize crop yields and their quality as well as improved the nutritional status of both plants, grains, with relatively higher ability for increasing availability macro- micronutrients in soil under soil application. The rate of applied nitrogen was 25% N reduced and the use efficiency increased.