Maize Cultivation

Nutritional Value of Maize

Energy 360 kJ (86 kcal)
Carbohydrates 19.02 g
Sugars 3.22 g
Dietary fiber 2.7 g
Fat 1.18 g
Protein 3.2 g
Tryptophan 0.023 g
Threonine 0.129 g
Isoleucine 0.129 g
Leucine 0.348 g
Lysine 0.137 g
Methionine 0.067 g
Cystine 0.026 g
Phenylalanine 0.150 g
Tyrosine 0.123 g
Valine 0.185 g
Arginine 0.131 g

Histidine 0.089 g
Alanine 0.295 g
Aspartic acid 0.244 g
Glutamic acid 0.636 g
Glycine 0.127 g
Proline 0.292 g
Serine 0.153 g
Water 75.96 g
Vitamin A equiv. 9 g (1%)
Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.200 mg (15%)
Niacin (Vit. B3) 1.700 mg (11%)
Folate (Vit. B9) 46 g (12%)
Vitamin C 6.8 mg (11%)
Iron 0.52 mg (4%)
Magnesium 37 mg (10%)
Potassium 270 mg (6%)

Soils

Maize can be grown on a variety of soils ranging from

sandy to clayey. But it performs best on well drained,
aerated deep-loams and silt loams containing
organic matter and nutrients. Maize may be raised on
moderately acid soils, but the optimum PH range is
from 6.5 to 7.5. Highly saline, acidic, alkaline and
water logged soils should be avoided. Deep
ploughing twice, followed by leveling and making of
ridges and furrows is required before sowing.

Maize Crop

Season
Experimental results have indicated that
optimum time for sowing Maize crop is the
fortnight before the onset of monsoon. This is
possible in the situations where irrigation is
available. In the absence of any irrigation
facilities, sowing with the onset of monsoon will
be ideal. Thus, in kharif the crop may be sown
from the middle of June to middle of July. For
Rabi maize, the most suitable date of sowing is
between October 15 and November 15 in dry
land area and up to the first week of January in
the wet land area.

Soil Preparation

Application of Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer

The Research study of maize cultivation indicated that
the effect of Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer without chemical
fertilizer on seed germination, growth, yield, pigment
content and soil profile of maize crop were analyzed.
The seed germination, growth and yield parameters such
as shoot length, root length, number of lateral roots,
number of leaves, number of vegetables, length of
vegetables, weight of vegetables, photosynthetic
pigment concentration such as chlorophyll 'a', chlorophyll
'b', total chlorophyll and carotenoids was found to be
maximum at 20% concentration of Seaweed Liquid
Fertilizer without chemical fertilizer. Hence the present
study found that 20% Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer without
chemical fertilizer shows the higher growth, yield,
chlorophyll pigment and soil profile compared to other
concentration.