Agronomic and Economic Assesment of Chichen Itza Corn with Chemical Fertilization and Biofertilizers in a rhodic Luvisol of Yucatan, Mexico

The agronomic and economic behavior of a High Protein Quality maize named Chichen Itza was evaluated in a rhodic Luvisol intensively used for agriculture during 30 years. 12 treatments were tested as a result of combining three doses of chemical fertilization (N-P2O5-K2O), including the Control, (30-80-00, 60-80-00, 00-00-00) with Mycorrhizal fungus, Azospirillum bacteria and both. The treatments were distributed in completely randomized block design with three replications. Agronomically speaking the three outstanding highest yields, above 6.00 t·ha-1, were: 60-80-00 + Azospirillum, 60-80-00 + Mycorrhiza and 00-00-00 + Mycorrhiza with 6.58, 6.35 and 6.16 t·ha-1 respectively while the lowest were: 00-00-00 + Azospirillum, 30-80-00 + Mycorrhiza and the control 00-00-00 with yields of 4.95, 5.20 and 5.29 t·ha-1 respectively. However, in economic terms, the treatments with the highest yields were not necessarily the most profitable ones. Even though the highest yields were obtained with the chemical fertilizer (60-80-00) (T10, T11) the highest Benefit/Cost were in those treatments where no chemical fertilizer was applied (T1, T4, T6) including the control T1 (00-00-00). This economic behavior has to do with the very high costs of chemical fertilizers as compared to those of the biofertilizers. In the case of the best treatment T4 (00-00-00 + Mycorrizae), the profit was more than 250% with a Benefit/Cost ratio of 3.57.