Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T06:56:39.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The growth of maize: III. The effect of date of sowing and bitumen mulch on dry-matter yields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. M. Osafo  and
G. M. Milbourn
D. M. Osafo
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent
G. M. Milbourn
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Experiments are described which analyse the effects of date of sowing and of a black petroleum soil mulch on the growth of two maize hybrids. The two hybrids used were Anjou 210, which is late maturing in S.E. England, and Kelvedon 75A, which is an early hybrid.

As sowing was delayed from mid-April until the end of May, so there was a greater development of vegetative tissue (mainly stem) and leaf area which reached peaks at a later stage after silking. In Anjou 210 early sowing led to higher grain yields (12%) as the production of peak vegetative weight near to the time of silking allowed dry matter produced after that stage, still at a time of high radiation, to move direct to the oars. Also, the remobilization of the secondary source of grain dry matter, namely previously stored photosynthate from the stem, occurred earlier with early sowing and to a greater extent when a longer grain-filling period was allowed.

The hybrid K 75A had a lower vegetative weight, and earlier silking coincided with higher levels of radiation, and the resultant increase in net assimilation rate led to a higher proportion of dry matter being partitioned into the ear. Because this hybrid flowered and senesced early, reserves of stem carbohydrate were low and the time available to transfer carbohydrate to the ear was short, resulting in lower yields than in the later maturing Anjou 210. K 75A also responded unexpectedly to the sowing treatments. Although late sowing gave higher grain yields in both hybrids up to 156 days after sowing, in the case of K 75 A, the early senescence curtailed the continuation of grain fill that would normally give early sowing an advantage and hence the late sown K 75 A produced 10 % more grain.

The application of a black petroleum mulch to the surface of the soil to raise soil temperature enhanced the benefits derived from early sowing. Plants given this treatment produced greater leaf areas and vegetative dry weights. As a result more carbohydrate was translocated from the stem during the grain-filling period, increasing grain yield by 13% following an increase in both number of grains and individual grain weight.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 85 , Issue 2 , October 1975 , pp. 271 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adelana, B. O. & Milbourn, G. M. (1972). The growth of maize. I. The effect of plant density on yield of digestible dry matter and grain. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 78, 65–71.Google Scholar
Alberda, Th. (1969). The effect of low temperature on dry matter production, chlorophyll concentration and photosynthesis of maize plants of different ages. Acta botanica Neerlandica 18, 39–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunting, E. S. (1968). The influence of date of sowing on development and yield of maize in England. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 71, 117–25.Google Scholar
Cooper, J. P. & Tainton, N. M. (1968). Light and temperate grasses. Herbage Abstracts 38, 167–76.Google Scholar
Daynard, T. B., Tanner, J. W. & Hume, D. J. (1969). Contribution of stalk soluble carbohydrates to grain yield in corn. Crop Science 9, 831–4.Google Scholar
De Wit, C. T., Brouwer, R. & Penning De, Vbies F. W. T. (1971). A dynamic model of plant and crop growth. In Potential Crop Production (ed. Wareing, P. F. and Cooper, J. P.), pp. 117–42. London: Hoinemann Educational Books.Google Scholar
Free, G. R., Winkelblech, G. S., Wilson, H. M. & Bay, G. E. (1966). Time of planting in a comparison of plow-plant and conventional seedbed preparation for corn. Agronomy Journal 58, 333–6.Google Scholar
Hoyt, P. & Bradfield, R. (1962). Effect of varying leaf area by partial defoliation and plant density on dry matter production in corn. Agronomy Journal 54, 523–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, R. B., Hunt, L. A. & Kannenberg, L. W. (1974). Photoperiod and temperature effects on corn. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 54, 71–8.Google Scholar
McCree, K. J. & Troughton, J. H. (1966). Prediction of growth rate of different light levels from measured photosynthesis and respiration rates. Plant Physiology 41, 559–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Monteith, J. L. & Elston, J. F. (1971). Microclimatology and crop production. In Potential Crop Production (ed. Wareing, P. F. and Cooper, J. P.), pp. 23–42. London: Heinemann Educational Books.Google Scholar
Osafo, D. M. (1972). The partition of dry matter in grain maize. Ph.D. Thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Pendleton, J. W. & Egli, D. B. (1969). Potential yield of corn as affected by planting date. Agronomy Journalbl, 61 70–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoy, V. (1965). Photosynthesis, respiration and carbohydrate accumulation in spring wheat in relation to yield. Physiologica Plantarium Supplement, IV, 1–125.Google Scholar
Wardlaw, I. F. & Porter, H. K. (1967). The redistribution of stem sugars in wheat during grain development. Australian Journal of Biological Science 20, 309–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, W. A., Loomis, R. S. & Lepley, C. R. (1965). Vegetative growth of corn as affected by population density. II. Components of growth, net assimilation rate and leaf area index. Crop Science 5, 215–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar