Abstract
Enhancing soil fertility and maize productivity is crucial for sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of tillage practices, nitrogen management strategies, and acidified hydrochar on soil fertility and maize productivity. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with split-split plot arrangement and four replications. Main plots received shallow tillage and deep tillage. Subplots were treated with nitrogen (120 kg ha−1) from farmyard manure (FYM) and urea, including control, 33% FYM + 67% urea (MU), and 80% FYM + 20% urea (MF). Acidified hydrochar treatments H0 (no hydrochar) and H1 (with hydrochar, 2 t ha−1) were applied to sub-sub plots. Deep tillage significantly increased plant height, biological yield, grain yield, ear length, grains ear−1, thousand-grain weight, and nitrogen content compared to shallow tillage. MU and MF improved growth parameters and yield over the control. Hydrochar effects varied; H1 enhanced yield components and soil properties such as soil organic matter and nitrogen availability compared to H0. Canonical discriminant analysis linked deep tillage and MU/MF nitrogen management with improved yield and soil characteristics. In conclusion, deep tillage combined with integrated nitrogen management enhances maize productivity and soil properties. These findings highlight the importance of selecting appropriate tillage and nitrogen strategies for sustainable maize production along with hydrochar addition. These insights guide policymakers, agronomists, and agricultural extension services in adopting evidence-based strategies for sustainable agriculture, enhancing food production, and mitigating environmental impacts. The implication of this study suggests to undertake long-term application of hydrochar for further clarification and validation.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Deep tillage increased maize height, yield traits and nitrogen content relative to shallow tillage.
- Treatment
- Deep tillagee0
- Outcome
- plant height, biological yield, grain yield, ear length, grains ear−1, thousand-grain weight, and nitrogen contente0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- shallow tillagee0
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Deep tillage significantly increased plant height, biological yield, grain yield, ear length, grains ear−1, thousand-grain weight, and nitrogen content compared to shallow tillage.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
MU and MF improved maize growth and yield over control.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“MU and MF improved growth parameters and yield over the control.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Hydrochar H1 enhanced maize yield components and soil properties relative to H0.
- Treatment
- H1e0
- Outcome
- yield components and soil properties such as soil organic matter and nitrogen availabilitye0
- Direction
- enhancede0
- Comparator
- H0e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“H1 enhanced yield components and soil properties such as soil organic matter and nitrogen availability compared to H0.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Canonical discriminant analysis linked deep tillage and MU/MF nitrogen management with improved yield and soil characteristics.
- Treatment
- deep tillage and MU/MF nitrogen managemente0
- Outcome
- yield and soil characteristicse0
- Direction
- improvede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Canonical discriminant analysis linked deep tillage and MU/MF nitrogen management with improved yield and soil characteristics.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest long-term hydrochar application for clarification and validation.
- Outcome
- long-term application of hydrochare0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The implication of this study suggests to undertake long-term application of hydrochar for further clarification and validation.”
t0“Maize”
The same questions in other papers
tillage · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
811 papers in the same direction as this paper · 230 in the opposite direction · 57 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- no effect
- negative
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See all 1,099 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.