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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/ETERM/02
Assessing the impact of varying temperatures on growth of maize and nitrogen use
efficiency under semi-arid environment

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Hafiz Mohkum Hammad , Muhammad Shakeel Chawla , Hafiz Faiq Siddique Gul Bakhat ,
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Hafiz Muhammad Rashad Javeed , Muhammad Mubeen , Wajid Nasim , Wajid Farhad , Shah
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Fahad
1 Department of Agronomy, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture, Multan
66000, Pakistan
2 Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus,
Pakistan
3 Department of Horticulture, Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan
4 Department of Agronomy, University College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences,
IUB, Pakistan
5 Department of Agronomy, University College of Dera Murad Jamali Naseerabad, Sub-
Campus Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Pakistan
6 Department of Agronomy, The University of Haripur, Haripur 22620, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
Pakistan

Correspondence: hafizmohkum@gmail.com,
Abstract
Climatic conditions significantly affect maize productivity. Among abiotic factors, nitrogen
(N) fertilizer and temperature are the two important factors which dominantly affect maize
production during early growth stages. Two experiments were conducted at COMSATS
University Islamabad Vehari Campus to determine the impact of N fertilizer and temperature
on the maize growth and yield. The first experiment was conducted to screen the temperature
resistance and sensitive maize hybrids. The screening was based on the growth performance of
the hybrids under different temperatures (T1 = ambient open-air temperature, T2 ≈ 1 °C higher
than the ambient temperature and T3 ≈ 1 °C lower than the ambient temperature). The results
showed that Syngenta 7720 and Muqabla Seed 25 W 87 were temperature sensitive and
temperature tolerant hybrids, respectively. The second experiment was carried out to study the
response of the two selected maize hybrids to N fertilizer application. The results revealed that
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the maximum N use efficiency (19.5 kg kg ) was achieved in maize hybrids that were fed
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under less N application rates (1.13 g N plant , equivalent to 75 kg N ha ). However, the
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maximum maize grain yield (86.4 g plant ), dry weight (203 g plant ) and grain protein content
(15.0 %) were observed in maize hybrids that were grown by the application of 4.52 g N plant -
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1 (equivalent to 300 kg N ha ). Therefore, the application of 300 kg N ha to temperature
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tolerant maize hybrid may be considered best management practices for optimum maize grain
yield.
Keywords: Best management practices; Climate variability; Maize yield production; Protein
content.

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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