Influence of Planting Date, Hybrid Maturity and Plant Population on Production and Quality of Irrigated and Non-irrigated Corn for Silage PDF Download

Author: D. G. Cummins
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Corn
Languages : en
Pages : 10

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Book Description
Corn was grown in the Coastal Plain at Midville, Georgia in 1970, 1971, and 1972 to (1) compare silage production and quality when planted at a normal date (mid-April) with that planted late to coincide with wheat harvest (June 1 ), and (2) to determine how hybrid maturity, plant population, and irrigation influence the response to planting date. The results cam be summarized as follow... 1. Highest mean dry forage yields were obtained from the normal planting date compared to the late date. The use of either short-or full-season hybrids, higher plant population, or irrigation did not over-come the yield loss due to late planting. 2. Forage quality measured by in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) was higher for the normal planting date as compared to the late date. This was due to higher ear and lower stalk percentages in the early planted forage. IVDMD decreased with increased plant populations at the late planting date in the irrigated experimental due to an increase in stalk content. Ear content was higher in the short-season hybrid and did not decrease as the population increased as compared to the full-season hybrid. 3. Although not copared statistically, mean yields and IVDMD were higher in the irrigated experiment than the non-irrigated experiment. These results indicate that altering management pratices did not improve production and quality of late planted corn to a level comparable to the normal planting date.