Performance of Maize as Influenced by Tillage and Fertilizer Treatments in Makurdi, Southern Guinea Savanna, Nigeria

The experiment was conducted during 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Southern Guinea Savanna, Nigeria to determine the performance of maize as influenced by tillage and fertilizer treatments. The experimental design consisted of two factors. Tillage (flat, ridges, zero and heap tillage) and fertilizer (0, 75, 150 and 300 kgha-1 of NPK 15:15:15). Treatments were laid out in a factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times. A composite soil sample was obtained from a plough layer (0-15 cm) at the beginning and at the end of each experiment according to the treatments and analyzed for particle size distribution, pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and exchangeable cations as well as cation exchange capacity (CEC). Data collected for the growth and grain yield of maize were subjected to analysis of variance after which significant means were separated using least significant difference (LSD) at P<0.05. Results indicated that there were significant effects of tillage and fertilizer treatments with respect to all parameters studied. However, ridges and heap at 300 kgha-1 NPK fertilizer applications gave the best results and produced higher growth and grain yield of maize as a result of improved access to soil nutrients when compared with flat or zero tillage. Similarly, increasing the quantity of NPK fertilizer resulted in increase in the growth and yield of maize crops. This implies that growth and yields of maize crops could still response to higher fertilizer rates which needs further investigation.