Yield Performance of Some White Maize Varieties in Response to Planting Spacings at Sher-E-Bangla Agricultural University Farm in Bangladesh

The experiment were conducted at the Agronomy Field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University in Bangladesh to investigate the effect of white maize variety and planting spacing on growth, yield and yield attributes. The treatments were two hybrid white maize variety viz. V1 = PSC-121 and V2 = KS-510 and three planting spacing viz. S1 = 50 cm x 25 cm, S2 = 60 cm x 25 cm and S3 = 70 cm x 25 cm. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results revealed that variety and plant spacing had significant effect on the studied characters and yield. The highest plant height, longest cob, highest number of kernel cob-1, the highest 100-grain weight, maximum grain yield and stover yield were observed in hybrid white maize PSC-121. On the other hand, the shortest plant, lowest number of grains cob-1, 100-grain weight, grain yield and stover yield were observed in hybrid white maize KS-510. The longest plant, highest number of kernel cob-1, the highest 100 grain weight was recorded in the spacing of 70 cm × 25 cm but lowest grain yield (7.52 t ha-1) and stover yield (9.362 t ha-1). In contrast, the spacing 50 cm × 25 cm produced the lowest values of the above mentioned plant parameters but showed the highest grain yield (9.20 t ha-1) and stover yield (11.64 t ha-1). In regard to interaction effect of variety and spacing, V1S1 (PSC-121 with 50 cm x 25 cm) interaction produced the highest grain yield (9.60 t ha-1), biological yield (21.621 t ha-1) and harvest index (46.01%). On the other hand, V2S3 (KS-510 with 70 cm x 25 cm) interaction achieved the lowest grain yield (7.36 t ha-1), biological yield (16.94 t ha-1) and harvest index (43.151%). Based on the experimental results, it may be concluded that maize (cv. hybrid white maize PSC-121) can be cultivated with a spacing of 50 cm × 25 cm for appreciable grain yield due to higher number of plant per unit area.