SEAWEED EXTRACT- BASED INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IMPROVES GROWTH, YIELD, NUTRIENT UPTAKE, AND NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY IN KHARIF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.)

Abstract

Maize plays a critical role in global agriculture, supporting farmer livelihoods and serving as a key staple for food, livestock feed, and industry. Optimizing its nutrient management by blending lower fertilizer inputs with supplementary nutrients presents a sustainable path toward higher productivity and superior nitrogen efficiency in semi-arid climates. A field experiment was conducted during during kharif season 2025 at the Research Farm of GD Goenka University, Gurugram, Haryana, India. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design with eleven treatments and three replications with maize hybrid “LAXMI 3960”. The results revealed that application of 75 % RDF + seaweed extract as foliar spray at 30 and 60 DAS (T₇) recorded the maximum plant height (300.00 cm), grain yield (4.38 t ha-1), stover yield (5.79 t ha-1) and biological yield (10.00 t ha-1). It also recorded maximum nutrient uptake by grain and stover (70.08 and 45.16 kg N ha-1, 33.73 and 26.06 kg P ha-1 and 45.99 and 111.17 kg ha-1, respectively). Agronomic efficiency (13.42 kg grain kg-1 N) and recovery efficiency (56.00%) were observed to be maximum under T7. Physiological efficiency and partial factor productivity were not significant. The study found that integration of 75% RDF with seaweed extract is an effective nutrient management strategy to improve crop growth, productivity, nutrient uptake and nitrogen use efficiency, while reducing dependence on conventional fertilizers. This approach offers a promising nutrient management strategy for enhancing resource-use efficiency and promoting sustainable maize production under semi-arid conditions.