Abstract
Climate change and global warming have necessitated re-investigating production technology package of field crops for boosting their performance. Forage maize herbage yield, nutritional value and profitability were assessed by executing a field trial under semi-arid conditions. Agronomic yield attributes, green herbage yield, dry matter biomass, nutritional quality traits and economic turnouts were taken as response variables. The field trial was conducted using the factorial arrangement of RCBD. Different spatial arrangements (15, 30 and 45 cm) and seeding rates (80, 100 and 120 kg ha(-1)) were tested to determine the most productive combination. Maize planted in row spacing of 30 cm using 100 kg ha(-1) seed rate remained superior by producing the maximum fresh biomass (49.82 t ha(-1)) and dry matter yield (13.18 t ha(-1)). The same treatment combination also improved the nutritional value of maize by increasing fat and ash contents while decreasing crude fiber. This treatment combination was followed by 120 kg ha(-1) seed rate sown in 30 cm apart rows, while the seed rate of 80 kg ha(-1) planted in 15 cm apart rows remained inferior to other treatments. In terms of economic performance, 100 kg ha(-1) seed rate sown in 30 cm spaced rows remained unmatched by generating the maximum net earnings of US$ 567 with the highest benefit-cost ratio (2.39). Thus, it is inferred that the forage potential of maize can be maximally exploited by using the seed rate of 100 kg ha(-1) sown in 30 cm apart rows under semi-arid agro-climatic conditions.