Abstract
<p>Plant diagnosis was proven to be useful for predicting maize growth condition. The number of days to male flowering and that to silk emergence differed among the four sites, reflecting differences in growth condition. Maize stalk weight decreased when the number of days to male flowering exceeded 65. Two growth indexes (GIs), plant height and stem diameter, well predicted maize fresh weight as expressed by the equation: Fresh weight = -0.013 + 1.26 × (Plant height × Stem diameter) (r<sup>2</sup> = 0.57). Those two parameters changed with the growth stage according to the maize growth condition. GI monitoring revealed that week 4 (W4) or week 8 (W8) after germination was the determinant of overall maize growth. Leaf color also changed in the course of growth; leaf color at W4 was the best indicator of maize grain yield. Such plant diagnosis parameters as GI and leaf color are useful for the determination of optimum fertilizer application time.</p>
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important crop in Malawi (JAICAF, 2008)
growth indexes (GIs) monitoring revealed that week 4 (W4) or week 8 (W8) after germination was the determinant of overall maize growth
Leaf color changed in the course of growth; leaf color at W4 was the best indicator of maize grain yield
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important crop in Malawi (JAICAF, 2008). Malawi has been experiencing high seasonal variability in maize yield in the last few decades. A 43% national food deficit was recorded in 2005 and a 53% surplus, in 2007 (Denning et al, 2009). One of the major factors controlling maize yield is fertilizer application. The government of Malawi has been offering chemical fertilizer subsidies to farmers since 2006 (Dorward & Chirwa, 2011). For one bag of fertilizer (50 kg) sold at the market price of around 15,000 MKT (60 US dollars as of Oct 2014), farmers could purchase it at 500 MKT (= 1 US dollar)
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