FECT OF INTER AND INTRA ROW SPACING ON YIELD COMPONENTS AND YIELD OF MAIZE (Zea mays L.) IN KERSA DISTRICT, EAST HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

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