The Effects of Different Organomineral Fertilizer Doses on Forage

Yield and Quality Traits of Second Crop Silage Maize Under Eastern

Mediterranean Conditions

Furkan Aygün, Veyis Tansı

and Recep İrfan Nazlı

Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey

Keywords: Silage Maize, Organomineral, Fertilizer, Inorganic, Mediterranean.

Abstract: This research was carried out during the 2020 growing season to investigate the effects of different

organomineral fertilization doses on forage yield and quality traits of second crop silage maize under Eastern

Mediterranean conditions. In the study, a total of 7 different fertilizer treatments were used, including the

control (0 kg ha

-1

N), the recommended inorganic fertilizer N dose (300 kg ha

-1

N), and 5 different

organomineral fertilizer N doses (100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 kg ha

-1

N). Inorganic fertilizer treatment

(INORG) exhibited the highest dry matter yield (13.21 t ha

-1

), followed by 300 kg ha

-1

(13.10 t ha

-1

), 200 kg

ha-1 (12.19 t ha

-1

), 250 kg ha

-1

(12.16 t ha

-1

), and 150 kg ha

-1

(12.01 t ha

-1

) organomineral fertilizer doses,

with slight differences. INORG provided also the highest crude protein content (6.75%), followed by 250 kg

ha-1 (6.46%) and 300 kg ha-1 (6.34%) organomineral fertilizer doses with slight differences. On the other

hand, there was no significant difference between fertilizer treatments in terms of ADF, NDF, and RFV values.

These results showed that 300 and 250 kg ha

-1

organomineral fertilizer treatments may be used successfully

in silage maize cultivation as an alternative to INORG under Eastern Mediterranean conditions.

1 INTRODUCTION

Maize is the most preferred crop for silage production

all over the world because it has a high forage yield

potential, energy, nutrient and DM contents, and low

buffering capacity. When growing silage maize, the

primary source of nutrients is inorganic fertilizers. In

many parts of Turkey, silage maize typically needs

250–300 kg ha

-1

of nitrogen (N) to produce the

optimum forage yield and quality. Given that the soils

in Turkey have a low amount of organic matter and

nutritional minerals, this could be one reason for the

considerable increase in yield (Nazli et al., 2014).

However, excessive application of inorganic

fertilizers leads to environmental pollution, increases

greenhouse gas emissions and production costs,

damages soil structure, and decreases crop yield and

quality (Khan et al., 2008; Nazli et al., 2020).

Within the framework of sustainable agriculture,

raising the amount of organic matter in soils is

https://orcid.org/ 0000-0003-0613-4125

https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-6416-6603

Corresponding author

essential to improving the soil's structure and crop

yield as well as its quality. As a result, the use of

organomineral fertilizers on agricultural land has

received significant attention in an effort to restore

soil sustainability and fertility and prevent any

environmental problems caused by the excessive use

of inorganic fertilizers. Organomineral fertilizer is a

type of fertilizer produced by combining the minerals

needed by the plant with organic matter produced

from natural resources. Organomineral fertilizer

includes organic matter and humic acid sources,

which regulate and improve soil structure, prevent

soil compaction, provide better aeration, increase the

water retention capacity of the soil, prevent pollution

from chemical fertilizers, and increase crop

productivity (Abdulraheem et al., 2023). In this

context, the aim of this study was to examine the

effects of different organomineral fertilizer doses on

forage yield and quality of silage maize.

132

Aygün, F., Tansı, V. and Nazlı, R.

The Effects of Different Organomineral Fertilizer Doses on Forage Yield and Quality Traits of Second Crop Silage Maize Under Eastern Mediterranean Conditions.

DOI: 10.5220/0014223200004738

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Research of Agricultural and Food Technologies (I-CRAFT 2024), pages 132-136

ISBN: 978-989-758-773-3; ISSN: 3051-7710

2 MATERIAL AND METHODS

The field experiment was conducted throughout the

2020 growing season at the Çukurova University

Faculty of Agriculture Research and Implementation

Farm. The soil had a sandy clay loam texture with the

following characteristics: low calcareous content

(5.69%), low organic matter content (1.96%), low

available P

(40.7 kg ha

-1

), high available K

(1763 kg ha

-1

), low salt concentration (0.14

mmhos/cm), and neutral soil pH (7.88). The

Çukurova Region has hot, dry summers and mild,

humid winters, which are indicative of a

Mediterranean climate. The average temperature and

total rainfall throughout the growing season were

28.4 °C and 55.7 mm, respectively. The research

employed two distinct cultivars of silage maize (Kws-

Kilowatt and SY-Inove) as plant material. The

chemical composition of fertilizers used in the study

is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: The description and chemical composition of

fertilizers used in the study.

Fertilizer Type N

(%)

Organic

matter

(%)

Humic

Fulvic

Acid

(%)

20-20-0 CBF 20 20 - -

Urea CTF 46 - - -

Triple

superphosphate

(TSP)

CBF

(10-10-

0+12SO

)+0.1

OBF

30+5SO

OTF 30 - 20 5

CBF= Chemical basal fertilizer, CTF= Chemical top

fertilizer, OBF= Organomineral basal fertilizer, OTF=

Organomineral top fertilizer.

In the experiment area, the soil was prepared by

medium-depth (20–25 cm) plowing and harrowing

with a cultivator. Considering that the fertilizer

treatments were the sub-plots and the cultivars were

the main plots, the field experiment was set up using

a split plot design with three replicates. Each plot was

21 m² (4.2 x 5 m), and inter-row spacing and distances

between the rows were 16 and 70 cm, respectively.

On June 20, 2020, a pneumatic drill was used to plant

maize seeds at a depth of around 4 to 5 cm. Table 2

lists the seven distinct fertilization methods employed

in the research.

Table 2: Fertilizer treatments.

Treatments

Control 0 kg ha

-1

OMF-100 100 kg ha

-1

N in organomineral form

OMF-150 150 kg ha

-1

N in organomineral form

OMF -200 200 kg ha

-1

N in organomineral form

OMF -250 250 kg ha

-1

N in organomineral form

OMF -300 300 kg ha

-1

N in organomineral form

INORG 300 kg ha

-1

N in inorganic form

(

Nazli et al., 2014

)

During the harvest, ten randomly selected samples

were collected from each plot for post-harvest

analysis. These samples were subsequently chopped,

oven-dried for 48 hours at 65°C, and then ground to

fit through a 1-mm screen. The DM yield was

computed by multiplying the DM content by the

green herbage yield. The Kjeldahl method was used

to assess the samples' N contents. The N content (%)

was multiplied by 6.25 to calculate the crude protein

content. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and Neutral

detergent fiber (NDF) contents were determined

using the Van Soest (1963) method. Relative feed

value (RFV) was computed using the method outlined

by Rohweder et al. (1978) which included RFV =

(DDM × DMI) / 1.29, where DDM is the percentage

of DM digestibility and DMI is the percentage of

body weight that represents voluntary DM intake.

To estimate the DDM and DMI, the following

equations were utilized:

DDM = 88.9 - (0.779 × ADF)

DMI = 120/NDF.

The combined data of the two cultivars presented

in the study were analysed by an ANOVA model

using the JMP 7.0 statistical software. Significantly

different means were separated at P = 0.05 using the

least significant difference (LSD) test.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

ANOVA detected that the fertilizer treatments

significantly affected plant height, cob length, cob

diameter, green herbage yield, and DM yield (Table

3). However, the treatment had no clear effect on the

stem diameter of silage maize.

Plant height ranged from 215.7 to 235.2 cm (Table

3). INORG provided the highest plant height,

followed by OMF-300 and OMF-250 with slight

differences, whereas the lowest was in Control.

The Effects of Different Organomineral Fertilizer Doses on Forage Yield and Quality Traits of Second Crop Silage Maize Under Eastern

Mediterranean Conditions

133

Table 3: The effects of fertilizer treatments on the forage yield and yield parameters of silage maize.

Treatments PH (cm) CL (cm) SD (mm) CD (mm) GHY (kg ha

-1

) DMY (kg ha

-1

)

Control 215.7 D 22.7 C 20.4 43.9 D 3057 D 983 C

OMF-100 222.0 C 24.9 AB 22.1 46.5 C 3351 CD 1090 BC

OMF -150 224.0 BC 24.3 B 21.9 47.6 ABC 3525 C 1201 AB

OMF -200 223.5 BC 24.3 B 21.5 47.0 BC 3722 ABC 1219 AB

OMF -250 232.2 AB 24.6 AB 22.3 48.6 AB 3705 BC 1216 AB

OMF -300 233.8 A 25.6 A 22.5 49.2A 4008 AB 1310 A

INORG 235.2 A 25.5 A 22.3 48.7 AB 4162 A 1321 A

Mean 226.6 24.6 21.8 47.4 3647 1192

P-Value ** ** NS ** ** **

*= P < 0.05, **= P < 0.01, NS = not significant, PH = Plant Height, CL = Cob Length, SD = Stem Diameter, CD = Cob Diameter, GHY =

Green Herbage Yield, DMY = Dry Matter Yield.

Table 4: The effects of fertilizer treatments on the forage quality parameters of silage maize.

Treatments LF (%) SR (%) CR (%) CP (%) ADF (%) NDF (%) RFV

Control 19.8 44.8 A 35.4 B 5.2 D 32.9 53.8 109.6

OMF-100 20.1 43.0 ABC 36.9 AB 5.7 CD 33.1 52.4 112.3

OMF-150 19.4 43.7 ABC 36.9 AB 5.9 BC 33.7 52.8 110.7

OMF-200 19.4 43.9 AB 36.7 AB 5.9 BC 33.7 55.1 106.0

OMF-250 19.2 42.3 BC 38.5 A 6.5 AB 33.4 53.3 110.3

OMF-300 19.4 41.9 C 38.7 A 6.3 AB 32.7 53.1 111.4

INORG 19.5 42.1 BC 38.5 A 6.89 A 32.1 52.0 114.7

Mean 19.5 43.1 37.4 6.06 33.1 53.2 110.7

P-Value NS * * ** NS NS NS

*= P < 0.05, **= P < 0.01, NS = not significant, LF = Leaf ratio, SF = Stem ratio, CR = Cob ratio, CP = Crude protein, RFV

= Relative feed value.

Cob length ranged between 22.7 and 25.6 cm

(Table 3). Cob length was found to be highest with

OMF-300, followed by INORG and OMF-250 with

slight differences, while Control showed the

significantly lowest value in the study.

Stem diameter varied from 20.4 to 22.5 mm

(Table 3). OMF-300 exhibited the highest stem

diameter, whereas the lowest was observed in

Control.

Cob diameter varied between 43.9 and 49.2 mm

(Table 3). As with cob length, OMF-300 gave the

highest cob diameter, followed by INORG and OMF-

250 with slight differences, while the lowest value

was observed in Control.

Green herbage yield ranged from 3057 to 4162 kg

-1

(Table 3). As with plant height, the highest green

herbage yield was achieved with INORG, followed

by OMF-300 with a slight difference, whereas the

lowest was in Control.

DM yield ranged between 983 and 1321 kg ha

-1

(Table 3). As with plant height and green herbage

yield, INORG exhibited the highest DM yield,

followed by OMF-300, OMF-200, OMF-250, and

OMF-150 with slight differences, while the lowest

DM yield was obtained from the control.

Plant height, cob length, and cob diameter were

generally increased with each increase in N

fertilization dose, probably due to the favorable effect

of N fertilization on vegetative growth of the crop.

Our results were supported by those reported by

Demir et al. (2021) in which increasing N fertilization

doses positively affected the plant height, cob length,

and cob diameter of silage maize in Ankara, Turkey.

Additionally, green herbage yield showed a generally

increasing trend with each increase in N fertilization

dose associated with the increases in plant height, cob

length, and cob diameter. On the other hand,

organomineral fertilizer treatments significantly

increased green herbage and DM yields of silage

maize compared to the control treatment, but they

gave statistically similar values to the INORG. Our

results coincide with those reported by Smith et al.

(2015), which suggested that organomineral

fertilization doses produced similar green herbage

and DM yields in silage maize to INORG in North-

western England.

The fertilizer treatments significantly affected

stem and cob ratios and crude protein content, while

they had no evident effect on leaf ratio, the contents

of ADF and NDF, and RFV (Table 4).

Leaf ratios that were achieved from the silage

maize were observed to be in the range of 19.2%–

20.1% in the study (Table 4). OMF-100 attained the

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134

highest leaf ratio, whereas the lowest was in OMF-

250.

Stem ratio was in the range of 41.9% - 44.8%

(Table 4). Control attained the significantly highest

stem ratio, followed by OMF-200 and OMF-100, and

OMF-200 with slight differences, whereas the lowest

was in OMF-300. Stem ratio generally tended to

decrease with each increase in N fertilization dose.

These results are supported by those reported by

Carpici (2009) and Ugurlu (2017) in that increasing

N fertilization rates significantly decreased the stem

ratio of silage maize in Bursa, Turkey

Cob ratio ranged from 35.4% to 38.5% (Table 4).

The Cob ratio was highest with INORG, followed by

OMF-300, OMF-250, OMF-100, OMF-150, and

OMF-200, with slight differences, while the control

exhibited the lowest value. Unlike in stem ratio, cob

ratio exhibited an increasing trend with increased N

dose, mainly due to the positive effect of N

fertilization on cob length and cob diameter. Our

results coincide with those of Kaplan et al. (2016),

who reported that increased N doses significantly

enhanced the cob ratio of silage maize in Kayseri,

Turkey.

Crude protein content ranged between 5.2% and

6.8% in the study (Table 4). As with cob ratio,

INORG showed the highest crude protein content,

followed by OMF-250 and OMF-300 with slight

differences, whereas the lowest value was observed

in the Control. Crude protein content was

significantly increased by N fertilization doses from

100 to 250 kg ha

-1

, while an additional N dose (300

kg ha

-1

) did not cause any further significant

increases. These results conflicted with those reported

by Karagöz et al. (2019), in which crude protein

content significantly enhanced with each increase in

N fertilization doses in Kayseri, Turkey.

ADF content varied from 32.1% to 33.7% in the

study (Table 4). OMF-150 gave the highest value,

whereas the lowest was in INORG.

NDF content varied between 52.0% and 55.1% in

the study (Table 4). OMF-200 attained the highest

value, whereas the lowest was in the INORG.

RFV ranged from 106.0 to 114.7 in the study

(Table 4). As with cob ratio and crude protein content,

INORG provided the highest RFV, while the lowest

RFV was observed in OMF-200.

ADF and NDF contents and RFV were not

significantly affected by fertilizer treatments in the

study. Our results are in agreement with those

reported by Demir et al. (2021) in Ankara, in which

N fertilization had no clear effect on ADF and NDF

contents and RFV of silage maize.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Considering the yield parameters examined in the

study, OMF-300 provided similar green herbage yield

with INORG, and OMF-300 and OMF-250 exhibited

similar DM yields with INORG. In terms of forage

quality parameters, OMF-300 and OMF-250

achieved similar crude protein content with INORG,

while no significant difference was detected between

INORG and OMF doses in terms of the contents of

ADF and NDF, RFV, and leaf and stem ratios. These

results show that OMF-300 and OMF-250 can be

successfully applied in silage maize cultivation in

order to reduce both environmental problems caused

by inorganic fertilizers and production costs under

Eastern Mediterranean conditions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful that this study was funded by the

Cukurova University (BAP), Adana, Turkey's

Scientific study Project Unit (project number FYL-

2019-12319).

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