Plant density and yield of grain maize in England

Abstract

SUMMARYResults from 10 field experiments are reported. Inra 200, the standard variety in official maize grain trials in Britain, was grown in six of the trials; comparative information was obtained on a range of competitive commercial hybrids and an experimental, early flowering, hybrid. The final plant densities most commonly involved ranged from 5 to 20 plants/m2, with extremes of 2 and 30 plants/m2. The effects of spatial arrangement were also considered in multifactorial or systematic designs; in general, yields increased slightly with more even spacing but no evidence was adduced that spacing, within the limits likely to be encountered in commercial practice, would significantly modify interpretations of density effects.In all varieties tested, a satisfactory model for the response in yield of grain to changes in plant density was 1/y = a + bx + cx2, where y = grain yield/plant and x = density. Estimated parameter values, however, were not the same for all varieties and significant genotype × density interactions were obtained.Grain yield/unit area in Inra 200 was maximal at densities of 8–10 plants/m2, but the response curve did not have a pronounced peak; differences in average yieldat densities ranging from 6 to 14 plants/m2 were less than 6%, and yield at 20 plants/m2 was about 80% of the maximum. Other flint × dent hybrids grown commercially for grain in northern areas (Anjou 210, L.G. 11, Warwick SL 209) reached maximum grain yield/unit area at lower densities (6–8 plants/m2), and the decline in yield with increasing density was much more marked than in Inra 200. In contrast, an earlier flowering, shorter growing, experimental hybrid (ARC 51 A) did not reach maximum yield until density was raised to 14 plants/m2, and was even more tolerant of high plant densities than Inra 200. With increasing plant density the number of ears/plant declined, falling below 1–0 in Inra 200 at densities in excess of 10 plants/m2, and averaging about 0–8 at plants/m2. Over the range 6–20 plants/m2 shelling percentage was reduced by no more than 4%, but water content of the ear (grain plus rachis) increased significantly with density. In the very early hybrid, ARC 51A, the difference in water content of the ear at 6 and 20 plants/m2 was less than 3%, but in Inra 200 it averaged about 8% and in varieties less tolerant of high densities it was often ofthe order of 15%. These results could be related to the delaying effects of increasing density on time of silk emergence. Relatively, time of pollen shed was little affected by density changes. In Inra 200 the difference in time between mid-anthesis and mid-silk was about 7 days more at 20 plants/m2 than at 6 plants/m2 while in Anjou 210 and Kelvedon 59A the comparable increase was 14 days.The practical significance of the findings is discussed in relation to current grain and silage maize production practices, and to future breeding and testing programmes in Northern Europe.