Legumes Rotation and Fertilizer Management Effect on Maize ( Zea mays L.) Productivity in a Sandy Loam Soil of Chitwan, Nepal

Inclusion of legumes in the cropping system is essential for sustainable management of farming systems and reducing nitrogen fertilizer requirement for maize production. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the rotational effect of legumes and nutrient management on maize productivity in the National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal, in 2017/18 and 2018/19. The field experiment was laid out in split‐plot design consisting four cropping systems: fallow–maize, lentil–maize, chickpea–maize, and field pea–maize as main plot and four combinations of manures and fertilizers: control, recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), farmyard manure (FYM), and RDF (50%) + FYM (50%) as subplot. Each treatment was replicated three times. Pooled data over 2 years showed that rotating maize with legumes increased maize yield by 23.1%, 16.1%, and 9.1% when chickpea, field pea, and lentil, respectively, were used, compared with the fallow–maize cropping system. Similarly, the result showed that a higher grain yield of maize (4949 kg/ha) was obtained from the chickpea–maize cropping system followed by 4666 kg/ha from the field pea–maize cropping system. The data observed significantly higher grain yield of 5140 kg/ha were obtained from application of RDF followed by RDF (50%) + FYM (50%) (4939 t//ha). There was 52.2%, 46.2%, and 35.2% increment in the yield of maize by use of RDF (100%), FYM (100%), and RDF (50%) + FYM (50%), respectively, over control. The results of this study suggest that the incorporation of legumes like chickpea, lentil, and field pea as rotation crops in maize production was more profitable and effective to increase productivity of maize and make viable and sustainable agriculture.