Yield evaluation of maize varieties grown for grain in the organic and integrated system
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Date
2021
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Instytut Uprawy Nawożenia i Gleboznawstwa – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy w Puławach
Abstract
Description
The research aimed to determine the yield level of
selected maize varieties grown for grain with organic and integrated
farming systems. The field experiment was conducted in
2017–2019 at Kępa Agricultural Experimental Station using the
method of crossed sub-block method in 4 replications. The firstorder
factor was the maize variety, the second-order factor – the
production system. The assessed maize varieties cultivated in the
integrated system (after wheat and stubble intercrop in combination
with natural and mineral fertilization) yielded better, on
average by 12.1% than in the organic system. Maize grown in the
integrated system was characterized by a 4.1% greater weight of a
thousand grains, a 3.6% greater weight of grain from one cob, and
a 2% greater number of grains per cob than in the organic system.
The maize plants were about 6.5% higher and set the cob about
10% higher than in the organic system. However, the length and
diameter of the cob as well as the proportion of grain in the cob
were similar in both production systems. In the organic system,
the cultivation of the cultivars Ambrosini and Silvestre ensured a
yield level higher by about 8% (on average 9.4 t ha-1) compared
to the average yields of the cultivars Smolitop and Ricardinio. In
the integrated system, Ambrosini and Ricardinio yielded better
(on average 10 t ha-1), the grain yield was 9.2% higher than the
other two cultivars. In both production systems, Smolitop had the
lowest yield; its yield was around 10% lower than that of Ambrosini
in the organic system and that of Ricardinio in the integrated
system. The highest weight and number of grains per cob, irrespectively
of the production system, was characterized by Ricardinio,
and the lowest by Smolitop (the difference was 5.1% and
9.4%, respectively). Ambrosini was characterized by the smallest
caryopsis (307 g on average), while Smolitop was larger by about
21 g. Plants of Ricardinio were the tallest and set the cob highest
on the stem regardless of the production system. However, the
length and diameter of the cob of the tested cultivars were similar.
Keywords
maize, grain yield, organic production system, integrated
production system, plant structure, cob structure, biometric
measurements
Citation
Polish Journal of Agronomy
2021, 45, 12–20