Evaluation of the performance of some cultivars of corn (Zea mays L.)‎ in three planting dates

Abstract EN

The field experiment for the 2019-2020 season was conducted in the farmer's field (Malik Jigan) in AL-Mahaweel (Dulaimi) area of Al- Mahaweel Agriculture Division in Babylon province,According to a randomized complete block design (R.C.B.D) and with three replications as a factorial experiment, the study included different planting dates (July 25 - August 5 - August 15) and several cultivars are hybrids (American Pioneer - Yugoslavian Zp) and the local cultivar(Bohuth 106).

The experiment aimed to evaluate and study yellow corn cultivars under different planting dates.

The results were as follows: The July 25 date was significantly excelled in most vegetative growth traits and all yield traits and components, plant height, cob leaf area, number of grains per ear, the weight of 500 grains and grain yield, and increased by percentages of 7%, 33.5%, 25.4%, 20.2% and 80.4 % compared to the August 15 treatment, While the Pioneer cultivar was superior in the characteristics of stem diameter, number of grains per cob, weight of 500 grains, and yield ton/ha with an increase of 7%, 13%, 17.8% and 100% compared to Bohouth 106.While the cultivar Bohouth 106 significantly excelled in the cob leaf area with a percentage increase of (11.5%) compared to the American Pioneer cultivar, The date of August 15 did not give any significant difference in the traits of the yield, and the results showed a significant effect of the interaction values between the study factors in most of the traits.

The interaction (25 July × Bohouth 106) gave the highest mean for the trait (plant height, cob area leaf, number of grains per cob and weight of 500 grains)Where the percentage increase was 14.6%, 52.8%, 63.9% and 89.6%, respectively, compared to the interaction (August 15 x Bohouth 106), while the interaction (July 25 x Pioneer) excelled by 314.17% over (August 15 x Bohouth 106).It was concluded from this study that the date of planting July 25th is the appropriate date for planting hybrid and local cultivars due to the sufficient thermal accumulation that leads to an increase in the production of dry matter and its transfer from the source to Sink , Whereas, the Pioneer cultivars gave the best results in terms of the economic yield due to its excelled in the components of the yield, compared to the Bohouth 106 cultivar, which gave the lowest yield.