Abstract
The objective of this study was to find a group of independent variables that would influence and estimate maize (Zea mays L.) productivity, modeled by multiple linear regression. For that, an experimental delinquency in random order was used in a 2 × 2 factorial scheme, from two populations (45,000 and 65,000 ha-1 plants) and two spacings (0.45 and 0.90 m), with 20 replicates. Soil attributes and maize production components were evaluated. The soil attributes evaluated were bulk density, macroporosity, microporosity, total porosity, soil moisture and mechanical resistance to penetration, at depths of 0-0.15 and 0.15-0.30 m. The maize production components were plant height (PH), height of the first ear insertion (HEI), stalk diameter (SD), number of rows per ear (NRE) and number of grains per row (NGR). There was a positive correlation between the variables and production per hectare, except for grain moisture, soil moisture, macroporosity (0.15-0.30 m) and microporosity (0.00-0.15 m). The number of ears per hectare, the number of grains per row and the 100-grain weight served to estimate maize productivity. The methodology applied in this study was adequate for estimating production with an accuracy of 98% and can be applied to other experiments. Key words: Production components, sowing, multivariat.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is today the world's most widely grown cereal, with a production of 1,031.9 million tonnes expected for the 2017/2018 crop
Before setting up the experiment, soils samples were collected for chemical characterisation of 0.20 cm layer, which presented the following chemical composition: pH in H2O: 5.3; Ca: 1.23 cmolc dm3; Mg: 0.58 cmolc dm-3; Al: 1.00 cmolc dm-3; Al + H: 1.55 cmolc dm3; K: 1.20 cmolc dm-3; cation exchange capacity (CEC): 6.05 cmolc dm-3; and V: 73.5%
It was found that physical attributes of soil for treatments population and spacing that did not present a significant difference were eliminated, those being macroporosity (0-0.15 m), microporosity (0.15-0.30 m), total porosity (0-0.15 m), total porosity (0.15-0.30 m), bulk density (0-0.15 m), bulk density (0.15-0, 30 m), soil resistance (0-0.15 m) and soil resistance (0.15-0.30 m)
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is today the world's most widely grown cereal, with a production of 1,031.9 million tonnes expected for the 2017/2018 crop. World production is mainly concentrated in three major producers, the USA, China and Brazil; these countries alone account for 65.62% of global maize production (FAO, 2017). Maize productivity in the Northeast is considered low and is related to climate conditions, the spatial arrangement of plants, as well as soil fertility and inadequate management practices (Sangoi and Silva, 2010). The physical attributes of the soil have been considered by some authors as indicators of the differences between areas under different management systems (Carneiro et al, 2009). According to Nascimento et al (2014), one of the peculiarities of agriculture is the treatment adopted for the management of agricultural areas, which considers the production area in a homogeneous way, thereby disregarding the natural variability that occurs in areas of production
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