Important morphological traits, nutrient composition and yield of baby corn as affected by planting density

The dehusked baby cob or baby corn is widely used as delicious vegetable in the world. Two factors field experiment with six treatments (2 genotypes and 3 densities) was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The two Baby Corn varieties were Baby Star and BARI HYV Maize-7 and three planting densities were 8, 12 and 16 plants m–2 . The objective were to study the effect of planting density on some morphological characters, baby corn and biomass yields, and mineral compositions at the three planting densities during the Rabi season, 2015– 2016. The result revealed that, plant height was increased with the increasing planting density. The highest fresh green fodder yield (6.94t ha–1 ) was recorded at the highest density of 16 plants m–2 . The longer cob (6.72cm) was observed in BARI HYV Maize-7 at 8 plants m-2 than 16 plants m–2 (5.21 cm) in Baby star variety. Higher baby corn yield (shelled and fresh cob weight) was found at the higher plant densities in both the varieties. Genetic variation existed in mineral contents with total-N, P, Mg, Zn, Mn and Fe were higher in BARI HYV Maize-7 than in the Baby star variety while S and Ca contents were similar between the varieties (av. of 0.15 & 0.11% for S and C, respectively). Vitamin-C content, on the other hand, was significantly higher in Baby star (12.08 mg 100 g–1 ) than in the BARI HYV Maize-7 (9 mg 100 g –1 ). From the results, it might be concluded that optimum density for baby corn cultivation was not achieved but higher yield and yield attributes were recorded at higher plant population, and baby corn could be a good source of some macro- and micronutrient elements and vitamin C.

Key words: Baby corn, Mineral Composition, Morphological Traits, Planting Density