The field experiment was conducted during the main rainy season of 2018 in Burie district to evaluate the effect of types and growth stages of seedlings on yield and yield-related traits of transplanted maize (Zea mays L.). In the District, terminal moisture stress and grain yield loss become the common challenges in maize production. The experiment was conducted in a factorial combinations of two types of seedlings (bare-rooted and polybagged) and five levels of seedling’s growth stages (seedlings of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 true leaf/ves) pulse one control (direct-seeded). The treatments were laid down in RCBD with three replications. Data on yield and yield-related parameters were collected following standard procedures and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS software; and mean separation for significant treatments was done by LSD. Both main effects affected the number of grains cob-1, grain and stover yield highly significantly. Types of seedlings significantly affected the number of cobs plant-1, cob length, the number of grains row-1, and biomass yield. The number of cobs plant-1,
cob length, number of grains row-1and biomass yield was also highly significantly affected by seedlings growth stages. The interaction effect was highly significant on number of cobs plant- 1, grain and stover yield and very highly significant on harvest index. The highest (10.7t ha-1) grain yield of maize was found from the transplantation of polybagged seedlings at four leaf stages. This treatment combination also gave the highest net benefit with an acceptable range of marginal rate of return. Therefore, transplanting of polybagged seedlings at four true leaf stages is economically feasible and can be recommended tentatively for Burie District and similar agro-ecologies. However to come up with a concrete recommendation, it is advised to repeat the study in similar agro-ecologies of maize production.
