Row spacing, landscape position, and maize grain yield

• Autores: Maddonni, Gustavo Angel; Martínez Bercovich, Joaquín
• Año de publicación: 2014
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Fuente: International Journal of Agronomy; Vol.2014; http://www.hindawi.com/
• Materia: ZEA MAYS
• Institución: Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía

Fil: Maddonni, Gustavo Angel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Maddonni, Gustavo Angel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cerealicultura. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Martínez Bercovich, Joaquín. Dow AgroScience Argentina S.A. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The use of narrow row spacing for the different landscape positions of a field could punish maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield. Two experiments were conducted (2006/07 and 2007/08) at different landscape positions in the Inland Pampas of Argentina. Hybrid DK190MG was grown at the commonest plant density used at each landscape position (approximately 5.1 plants/m2 at the summit, 6.5 plants/m2 at shoulder-slope position, and 7.6 plants/m2 at foot-slope position) with three row spacings (0.38 m, 0.52 m, and 0.38 m in a 2 x 1 skip-row pattern). At the silking stage of maize crops, soil water content (0-200 cm depth) and maximum light capture differed (0.05 less than P less than 0.001) among landscape positions but were similar among row spacings. Differences in grain yield among landscape positions (mean 806, 893, and 1104 g/m2 at the summit, shoulder-slope position, and foot-slope position, resp.) were related to kernel number/m2 (r = 0.94), which was closely related (r = 0.90) to light capture around silking. Grain yield reductions (6 to 20 percent) were recorded when crops were cultivated in rows 0.38 m apart. The skip-row pattern did not improve grain yield. Maize grain yield was optimized in rows 0.52 m apart along the sandy landscape positions of the fields.