Modulation of maize growth, yield and soil enzymes activities by introducing wheat straw mulching and tillage practices

AimsTillage and mulching are two agricultural practices that play a crucial role in improving crop growth. Tillage involves mechanical manipulation of the soil, which helps improve soil aeration, drainage, and root penetration. By loosening the compacted soil, tillage allows plant roots access to nutrients and ensures adequate drainage, which is essential for both healthy root development and optimal crop growth. However, their combined influence on soil enzymatic activities along with maize growth still needs further investigation.MethodsThat's why current study was conducted with two factors (different tillage techniques and mulching levels) and four replications. No tillage, conventional tillage and deep tillage practices was done with and without wheat straw mulching (8 kg/ha).ResultsResults showed that deep tillage with mulching caused significant improvement in days to emergence (9.98%), emergence/m2 (12.18%), plant height (8.97%), leaf area/plant (17.33%), grains/ear (6.91%), 1000 grains weight (4.72%), grains yield (1.88%) and biological yield (13.29%) over no tillage and no mulching. It also significantly improved total soluble sugar, total protein, free proline, total carbohydrates, urease activity, alkaline phosphatase activity, invertase and catalase activity (D) compared to no tillage and no mulching.ConclusionIn conclusion, deep tillage with mulching is a better technology than conventional tillage and no tillage with mulching to improve maize growth and quality attributes. It can also regulate the soil enzymes and health in positive manner. More investigations are suggested at field level using different cereal crops for declaration of deep tillage with straw mulching as best treatment for enhancement of their production.