Abstract:
Maize is an important cereal crop in Ethiopia due to its use as a source of food security. However,
its productivity is limited due to the lack of appropriate plant spacing. A field experiment was
conducted during the 2023 main cropping seasons in kersa districts of East Harerghe Zone to
study the effect inter and intra-row spacing on growth,phonological yield, and yield components
of maize. The experiment consisted of three inter-row spacing (55, 65 and 75 cm) and five intrarow plant spacing (20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 cm) and the experiment was laid out in factorial
arrangement with Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The
results showed that the interaction effects of both inter and intra-row spacing had significant
effects(P<0.01) on the number of days to 50% anthesis, days to 90% physiological maturity, leaf
area, leaf area index, plant height, number of kernel per ear, thousand kernel weight, aboveground
dry biomass, grain yield and harvest index. Further, the main effects of inter and intra-row spacing
were highly significant effect (P<0.01) on number of ear per plant, ear diameter and ear length.
The highest days to 50% anthesis was (79.55), days to 90% physiological maturity (153.3), leaf
area (1322.5cm2
), harvest index (4.56) were recorded from 75 cm*40 cm. The highest leaf area
index (4.48), plant height (274.5 cm), aboveground dry biomass (25074.55 kg ha-1
) was recorded rom the interaction effects of 55 cm*20 cm plant spacing. The highest number of kernel per ear
(428.5), thousand kernel weight (405.9 g), grain yield (7121 kg ha-1
) were recorded from the
interaction of 75*25 cm whereas the lowest days to 50% anthesis (74.70), days to 90%
physiological maturity (144.7), leaf area (1137.67 cm2
), grain yield (5250.13 kg ha-1
), number of
kernel per ear (388), thousand kernel weight (336.5 g) and harvest index (2.33) were recorded
from the interaction effects of 55 cm*20 cm plant spacing. The interaction 75 cm*40 cm spacing
recorded the lowest leaf area index (3.01), plant height (239.8 cm per plant), and aboveground
dry biomass (14926.13 kg ha-1
). The study found that the optimal plant spacing for maize
productivity is 75cm inter row specing with 25 cm intra-row spacing producing the highest grain
yield. Therefore, a plant spacing of 75*25 cm was the most appropriate for maize productivity.
Keywords: Grain yield, Harvest index, Maize Row spacing Plant density
