A Quadratic Regression Analysis of the Effect of Three Levels of NPK Fertilizer on the Yield of Yellow Maize

Abstract

Fertilizers are essential to modern agriculture; their overuse can have harmful effects on plants, crops and soil quality. Thus, the study seeks to investigate, if (actually) the trio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) contribute to the growth and yield of yellow maize, and to determine at what proportion each of the elements is to be applied for optimum yield. Our findings revealed that Nitrogen and Phosphoric fertilizer contributed significantly to the yield of yellow maize while there was no significant effect of Potassium Further analysis on the mean separation of Nitrogen and Phosphorus using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test—(DMRT) showed Nitrogen at 50 kg/ha as significantly higher than the other levels. For phosphorus, its effect at 20 kg/ha was significantly higher than the other levels. Thus, the derived quadratic model: .