Liming effects on reproductive growth and yield components of maize grown on an acid rainforest soil

Abstract

Maize was planted on limed and unlimed plots to study the effect of soil acidity on reproductive growth and yield components of the crop in Owerri southeastern Nigeria. Eight (8) maize varieties (Factor A) and two lime levels (0 and 2 t ha^-1, Factor B) were arranged as a factorial experiment in a randomised complete block design with three replications. The number of days to 50 % anthesis and silking, anthesis-silking interval (ASI), physiological maturity and grain filling duration were measured to determine the effect on reproductive development. The effect on yield and yield components were determined by measuring the number of grain rows cob^-1, grains row^-1, grains cob^-1, weight of hundred seeds and grain yield. Soil acidity induced the distortion of the synchrony in maize flowering by a 45.9 % increase in ASI. This caused a reduction in yield components and ultimately reduced grain yield by 35.5 %. Among the varieties, AK 9928-DMRSR, OBA SUPER II and AMA TZBR C1 with ASI of 3.0, 4.0 and 4.0 days respectively, were the least affected by distortion of synchrony in flowering. These varieties also had the highest grain yield (3.3, 2.9 and 3.1 t ha^-1, respectively), greatest number of grains cob^-1 (kernel number, 358, 327 and 339) and were therefore the best among this set of maize varieties under the prevailing acid soil conditions.