A Preliminary Study on Yield of Proso Millet (panicum miliaceum L.) and its Response to Nitrogen Under Summer Conditions in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

In a field experiment, proso millet was grown under irrigation in early summer (May-June,1983) and received eight levels of urea-N applied before seeding. The application of 50 kg/ha N raised yield of fresh forage from 16.4 to 33.5 tons/ha. Higher N applications up to 250 kg/ha did not further increase this yield though applications at 300 and 350 kg/ha urea-N reduced yield causing in sever toxicity to seedling. Although the N content of the forage related well to rate of N application, it was remarkably affected by the growth stage. At near maturity the N content fell to below 0.7% . Low recovery of the applied N from the soil indicated heavy losses probably due to NH3 volatilization. The depth of soil sampling to coincide with root nutrient uptake distribution need further investigation