Effect of Combined Application of Treated Sewage Sludge and Inorganic Fertilizers on Yield and Yield Attributes of Maize Crop (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

In present day scenario the production wastes has increased tremendously to point where its disposal is a concern. The sewage sludge generated from sewage treatment plants (STP) contains nutrients which are beneficial to plants. Due to these beneficial qualities, it can be used for agricultural purpose. The purpose of the conducted study was to know the effect of combined application of sewage sludge along with inorganic fertilizers on yield of maize crop. Randomized block design involving 10 treatments and 3 replications was adopted for the study. The experiment was carried out from October 2023 to February 2024 at college farm, College of Agriculture, PJTSAU, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The T10 (100% RDF+5 t ha-1 ss) treatment showed significant results when compared with T2 (100% RDF) treatment.  The results obtained revealed that application of sewage sludge along with inorganic fertilizers (T10=100% RDF+5 t ha-1 ss) showed significant results when compared to application of inorganic fertilizers alone. The significantly highest grain yield, grain weight cob-1, no. of grains cob-1 and no. of seed rows cob-1 were observed in T10 (100% RDF+5 t ha-1 ss) treatment followed by T9 (100% RDF+ 2.5 t ha-1 ss), T8 (75 % RDF + 5 t ha-1 ss) and T2 (100% RDF). According to the results obtained, sewage sludge can be used as source of nutrients for agricultural application by reducing the quantities of inorganic fertilizers and also reduces resource consumption for disposal of sewage sludge.