Effect of Desiccant Application on Pre-Harvest Humidity of Medium-Early Hybrid LG 3258 Corn in Western Forest-Steppe Conditions

Abstract

The high pre-harvest humidity of corn grain leads to seed injury and considerably increases the cost of growing technology. The purpose of the study is to establish the effectiveness of using desiccants to reduce the pre-harvest moisture content of grain and determine whether the desiccation of corn crops affects the yield. The following methods were used to achieve this purpose: field – to establish the effect of desiccation on corn yield, laboratory – to determine the moisture content in grain, statistical – for mathematical processing of experiment results. A field experiment that examined the timing of desiccation and the norms of desiccant use involving Roundup Max and Reglon Super preparations was conducted. Hybrid corn – LG 3258, FAO 250, medium-early. According to the results of the study, the use of desiccants reduced the pre-harvest moisture content of corn grain in all variants of the experiment. Weather conditions had a considerable impact on the decrease in grain humidity. Thus, in 2018 and 2019, the desiccation decreased the pre-harvest moisture content of grain by 6.4-8.0%, and in 2020 – by 4.0-5.3% with the treatment of corn plants in the black dot phase with Roundup Max at a rate of 3.2 l/ha. The use of Reglon Super in the phase of the appearance of a black dot resulted in a decrease in humidity by 5.2-7.8%, depending on the rate of consumption of the drug and the year of study. The treatment with Roundup Max 10 days after the black dot appeared decreased the humidity by 4.0-7.5%, depending on the consumption rate and the year of study. The use of Reglon Super reduced pre-harvest humidity by 4.0-6.5%, depending on the rate of the drug and the year of the study. Treatment of plants in the 40% grain moisture phase was the most effective, which contributed to the formation of 20.1% humidity when using Roundup Max at a rate of 3.2 l/ha. Desiccant treatment of corn crops did not affect the yield in any of the variants of the experiment. According to the results of the study, corn desiccation is an effective technological technique that reduces the pre-harvest moisture content of grain by 4.0-8.0%, depending on the drug, its rate, and weather conditions. The lowest harvesting humidity – 20.1% was obtained in the variant of treating corn with a grain humidity of 40% with Roundup Max at a rate of 3.2 l/ha. The economic assessment showed that the highest net profit was obtained in the Roundup Max 2.4 l/ha treatment option in the black dot phase – UAH 47,491/ha, the profitability level is 165%