www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 117.239.11.152 on dated 14-Aug-2014 60 INTRODUCTION India ranks first in livestock population in the world. It supports nearly 20% of the world’s livestock population having cattle 16% and buffalo 55%. The latest livestock census has placed the total livestock population at 529.7 million (GOI, 2012). Livestock sector contributes approximately 4% to GDP and 27% to agricultural GDP (International Poultry and Livestock Expo, 2013). The animal productivity in terms of draft, milk, meat and other products depend directly on the availability of good quality green fodder. At present, the country faces a net deficit of 62.76% of green fodder and 23.46% of dry crop residues and 64% feeds and it is expected to be increased in near future (ICAR, 2010). To overcome this problem, there is need to shift from sole food and fodder crops to the dual or multipurpose food cum fodder crops. Under this situation, baby corn can be a good option as a dual purpose food cum fodder crop that can maintain the supply of fodder to burgeoning livestock population of the country. Among the different agronomic practices, optimum plant density and nitrogen availability are the most important factors affecting the quality of fodder maize. Optimum crop geometry is one of the important factors for higher production leading to efficient utilization of resources and also harvesting as much as solar radiation and in turn better photosynthesis. Though the spacing requirements of grain and fodder maize are well defined, but such information is meagre in baby corn. The duration of crop being short, the need for nutrient management and other package of practices may also differ from the grain or fodder crop of maize. Therefore, It was pertinent to standardize the crop geometry and work out the nitrogen requirement of baby corn. Hence, the present experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of crop geometry and nitrogen on the quality of baby corn and its use as fodder. MATERIALS AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted during Kharif season, 2012 (July-October), at the Forage Research Farm of NDRI, Karnal, India, situated at 29º 43' N latitude and 76º 58' E longitudes and at an altitude of 245 meter above mean sea level. The experiment was Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition Indian J. Anim. Nutr. 2014. 31 (1) : 60-64 Effect of Crop Geometry and Nitrogen Levels on Quality of Baby Corn (Zea Mays L.) as Fodder Eajaz Ahmad Dar*, A.S. Harika 1 , S.K. Tomar 2 , A.K. Tyagi 3 and A. Datta 4 Forage Research and Management Centre, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132001, Haryana, India ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted to observe quality of baby corn in split plot design with six treatments of crop geometry viz. 40 cm × 15 cm, 40 cm × 20 cm, 50 cm × 15 cm, 50 cm × 20 cm, 60 cm × 15 cm and 60 cm × 20 cm in main plots and four levels of nitrogen (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha -1 ) in sub plots with four replications. Crop geometry of 60 cm × 20 cm recorded higher crude protein (CP) content of baby corn, fodder, cob husk and tassel as well as acid detergent fibre (ADF) of baby corn fodder as compared to all other crop geometry treatments. However, no significant effect was recorded on ether extract (EE), ash and organic matter (OM) content of baby corn, fodder, cob husk and tassel and on acid detergent fibre (ADF) content of cob husk and tassel. Similarly, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and hemicellulose content of fodder was also not affected by crop geometry. Dry matter (DM) content and nitrogen uptake were highest in 50 cm × 15 cm crop geometry. Application of nitrogen at higher levels resulted in significant increase in content of CP, EE, ash as well as in nitrogen uptake by the plant. However organic matter, ADF, NDF, hemicellulose and dry matter content of baby corn, fodder, cob husk and tassel were decreased with increase in level of nitrogen application. Key words: Baby corn, Crop geometry, Nitrogen application, Fodder quality, Nitrogen uptake. *Corresponding author: darajaz9@gmail.com 1 Ex- Principal Scientist and Officer Incharge Forage Research and Management Centre, NDRI, Karnal; 2, 3 Principal Scientist, Dairy Cattle Nutrition Division, NDRI, Karnal; 4 Scientist, Soil and Crop Management, CSSRI, Karnal Indian J. Anim. Nutr. 2014. 31 (1) : 60-64