Maize as one of the staple crops in Nigeria requires an increase in yield per unit area due to the increase in the human population. This will go a long way in filling the gaps between the low farmers’ yields and the attainable yields. An experiment was carried out in 2017 and 2018 growing seasons in the Institute for Agricultural Research, Samaru (11°11’N 07°38’E, altitude 686m) Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria, to evaluate the yields of two maize varieties (SAMMAZ 14 and 29) under different fertilizer recommendations using Farmers recommended rate (120:60:60) and Nutrient Expert model (NE) recommendations (160:90:74). The research was achieved in Randomized Complete Block Design with six treatments and three replications. The study revealed that NE V1 fertilizer recommendation and farmers recommended practice produced 300% higher yield in comparison to control (p ≤ 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the yield and growth parameters between fertilizer recommendation from the model and farmers' recommended practice rate. This is due to the assumptions of the NE model that all nutrient sources come from mineral fertilizers. The study novelty is the introduction of a new technique of fertilizer recommendation that can supplement the existing farmers’ blanket recommendation system. We conclude that different components of site-specific nutrient management can be incorporated into Nutrient Expert and can serve as an effective tool for the nutrient recommendation for Maize in Nigeria.

Nutrient expert; Fertilizer recommendations; Nutrient managements; Maize

sciences soil

Presentation: None