Response of Maize (Zea mays L) Yield and Yield Components to Rates of Applied Phosphorus Fertilizer in the Guinea Savanna Soils of Kogi State, Nigeria

Crops respond differently to P-fertilizer treatments. The role of phosphorus in soils for sustainable crop production cannot be over emphasis. It has been observed that P after nitrogen is the most important macro nutrient limiting crop production in the tropics. Thus multi - location studies undertaken in Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria in 2007 and 2008 cropping seasons assessed the response of maize crop to phosphorus additions. The experiment, a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications had seven rates of P (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120kg ha-1) applied as Single Super Phosphate for P calibration studies. Maize agronomic traits and yields were subjected to statistical analysis and means found to be statistically significant (p<0.05) were compared using the Least Significant Difference (LSD). In this trial, application of P fertilizer irrespective of rates significantly increased plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, stem girth and grain yields in both locations. The magnitude of increases in all these parameters revealed that the application of 100 and 120kgP ha-1 compared favorably in both locations and significantly better than the control. Obtained data showed that in Anyigba soils, optimum maize yield of 5.40 and 5.51 ton/ha were obtained for 2007 and 2008 cropping season, from the application of 100 and 120kg P ha-1, respectively while in Ofere soils, optimum maize yield of 3.93 and 3.86 ton/ha were obtained for 2007 and 2008 cropping season, respectively from the application of 120kg P  ha-1. 100 and 120kg P ha-1 are recommended for maize cultivation in soils of Anyigba and Ofere, respectively based on better grain yields obtained with this treatments. Key words: Phosphorus, maize, agronomic traits, yield components and yiel