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Conventional fertilizer nitrogen (N) recommendations for rainfed maize resulted in low N use efficiency (NUE) due to several reasons. This warrants application of fertilizer synchronous with plant requirements that could aid in improved productivity and NUE. In this backdrop, to optimize N rates for maize, a field experiment was conducted during 2014 to 2016 in Vertisols. Twelve treatments in combinations viz., N omission, skipping basal dose, multi-split topdressing at varying time either as broadcast or band placement, soil test crop response (STCR) based N with target yield 6.0 t ha⁻¹ and biochar application were investigated in a randomized block design (RBD). Late application of N rates (120 kg ha⁻¹) in 2 equal splits at knee high (V8) and tasseling (VT) stages with skipping of basal N, significantly increased grain yield, agronomy efficiency (AE), partial factor productivity (PFP), physiological efficiency (PE) and …