TABLE 2.
Physio-agronomic indices of maize crops as influenced by nitrogen and iron fertilization under different planting patterns.
| Fertilizer application (FA) | Planting pattern (PP) | Plant height (cm) | Stem diameter (mm) | Grain yield (g pot–1) | Biomass dry matter (g pot–1) | Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) |
| N0-Fe0 | MM | 245.75 ± 2.75 e | 34.32 ± 2.64 c | 102.75 ± 5.79 d | 223.85 ± 11.05 e | |
| IM | 253.50 ± 3.41 d | 38.20 ± 1.25 b | 127.18 ± 7.51 b | 242.15 ± 4.19 bc | 1.23 | |
| N1-Fe0 | MM | 253.80 ± 2.64 d | 37.12 ± 1.92 b | 103.90 ± 7.15 cd | 228.60 ± 9.01 de | |
| IM | 264.32 ± 3.17 b | 41.95 ± 1.30 a | 131.52 ± 2.53 b | 250.73 ± 3.63 b | 1.26 | |
| N1-Fe1 | MM | 258.70 ± 1.72 c | 38.10 ± 1.32 b | 112.30 ± 5.06 c | 236.95 ± 4.51 cd | |
| IM | 274.15 ± 3.84 a | 43.70 ± 1.92 a | 163.69 ± 3.29 a | 284.67 ± 7.31 a | 1.45 | |
| Significance levels | ||||||
| FA | 0.00*** | 0.00*** | 0.00*** | 0.00*** | ||
| PP | 0.00*** | 0.00*** | 0.00*** | 0.00*** | ||
| FA × PP | 0.06ns | 0.63ns | 0.00*** | 0.00*** |
The means with ± standard deviations (SD) having different lower-case letters are significantly different from each at the LSD test p ≤ 0.05 level of probability. FA, fertilizers application; PP, planting patterns; N0-Fe0, no nitrogen and iron application; N1-Fe0, nitrogen fertilizer without iron application; N1-Fe1, nitrogen fertilizer with the iron application. ***p ≤ 0.001, nsp > 0.05.