A field investigation entitled “Response of kharif sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata) to micronutrient management” was conducted in Kharif season of 2022-2023 at the Instructional farm, Post Graduate Institute, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra). The soil of experimental field was low in available nitrogen (192.67 kg ha-1), medium in available phosphorus (17.87 kg ha-1) and moderately high in potassium (432.51 kg ha-1). The field experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. There were eight treatments viz., T1: Absolute control, T2: RDF (120: 60: 40 N: P2O5: K2O kg ha-1), T3: GRDF (120: 60: 40 N: P2O5: K2O kg ha-1 + FYM 10 t ha-1), T4: GRDF + Soil application of Multi- micronutrient Grade I @ 25 kg ha-1, T5: GRDF + Soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1, T6: GRDF + Two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS, T7: GRDF + Soil application of Multi- micronutrient Grade I @ 25 kg ha-1 + Two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS and T8: GRDF + Soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + Two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS. The yield contributing characters of sweet corn such as weight of cob with husk (237.26 g), and without husk (197.20 g), diameter of cob with husk (21.84 cm) and without husk (18.69 cm) and green cob yield (192.10 q ha-1) were significantly higher under application of GRDF in association with soil application of Multi- micronutrient Grade I @ 25 kg ha-1 along with two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS. However, it was at par with GRDF in association with soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS. The sweet corn crop fertilized with GRDF in association with soil application of Multi-micronutrient Grade I @ 25 kg ha-1 along with two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS, recorded significantly higher gross monetary returns (₹ 253369 ha-1), net monetary returns (₹ 169125 ha-1) and B: C ratio (3.01) as compared to rest of the treatments during investigation. However, it was at par with treatment GRDF + soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS

Sweet corn, Yield, Economics, Micronutrient Grade I, Phule liquid micro grade II.

The application of GRDF (120: 60: 40 N: P2O5: K2O Kg ha-1 + FYM 10 t ha-1) along with soil application of Multi-micronutrient Grade I or ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 and two foliar sprays of Phule Liquid Micro Grade II @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAS to sweet corn crop found beneficial for increase of yield attributes, yield and economic returns grown on medium deep soil

A.M. Bhosale, N.J. Danawale, S.S. Jamdade, A.V. Solanke, A.G. Durgude, M.R. Patil and N.S. Jopale (2024). Response of Kharif Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. var. Saccharata) to Micronutrient Management. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 16(6): 41-45.