Author(s): D. Datta Ray, S.Bera, A.Ali, S.Mondal, T.Biswas, A.Baishya, S. Sarkar, R. Sadhukhan, S. Sarkar, P. Kumar

Abstract: Maize, being a higher yielder than many other competing cereals, can be a potential crop in conservation agriculture practices of the eastern-gangetic plains. However, the benefits of conservation agriculture are time-dependent. To deal with the initial adversities, an extensive study of the microclimatic factors under these systems alone are not sufficient. To understand the scope of existing high yielding varieties of maize under conservation agriculture, a study with five released varieties of maize were conducted under two independent degree of tillage systems, each coupled with residue retention from the preceding kharif season. A significant variations among growth and yield attributes were found across zero and reduced tillage. The highest mean yield was observed under reduced tillage (14.48t ha^-1) and the varieties PAC751 and ADV9293 reflected the best performances with respect to yield and other characters. Correlation analysis and path analysis were conducted for each of the treatment conditions to understand the effect of other characters over yield. The yield had a significant positive correlation with plant height (0.930) and root dry weight (0.988) under zero tillage and only with plant height (0.909) under reduced tillage. Leaf area index (0.888) and plant biomass (-0.955) were also found to be the growth characters with a significant positive and negative correlations with yield under reduced tillage. A simple linear regression analysis on each of these combinations of characters under the respective systems revealed their per cent contributions to yield variations, thereby reflecting a better view on their associations. These characters can be used as early selection indices for any longterm breeding programs of maize under the systems of conservation agriculture.

DOI: 10.22271/09746315.2022.v18.i1.1535

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