Comparative Evaluation of Nutrient Management Strategies for Enhancing Productivity, Nutrient Uptake, Soil Fertility and Profitability of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Alfisols
Aims: The study aims to compare the effects of different nutrient management strategies on maize productivity, nutrient uptake, soil fertility and profitability in Alfisols. Study Design: The field experiment was conducted in a randomised block design with seven nutrient management treatments and three replications. Place and Duration of Study: Agricultural Research Station, Tornala, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Siddipet district, Telangana, India, during Kharif 2019. Methodology: Maize hybrid DHM-117 was grown under seven nutrient management treatments: the recommended dose of fertiliser with farmyard manure, soil-test-based fertilisation, farmers’ practice, organic farming, integrated nutrient management, natural farming and an unfertilised control. Growth parameters, yield attributes, grain and stover yields, soil pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, plant nutrient concentrations, nutrient uptake and economic returns were recorded and analysed using analysis of variance. Results: Integrated nutrient management produced the highest grain yield (6963 kg ha⁻¹) and stover yield (8945 kg ha⁻¹), together with superior cob weight, grain weight per cob and 100-grain weight compared with the other treatments. It also recorded the highest soil organic carbon (0.63%), available phosphorus (25.91 kg ha⁻¹), and total uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (196.6, 45.5 and 150.9 kg ha⁻¹, respectively), and achieved the highest benefit–cost ratio (2.00). Soil-test-based fertilisation showed comparable yield performance and favourable nutrient status, whereas organic and natural farming improved selected soil-quality indicators but resulted in lower yields and benefit–cost ratios during the study period. Conclusion: Under the conditions of this study, integrated nutrient management was the most effective and balanced strategy for enhancing maize yield, nutrient uptake, soil fertility and profitability in Alfisols, while soil-test-based fertilisation emerged as a viable alternative.