Abstract
The yield and cause and effect relationships of green-ear production components of hybrids cultivated in reduced spaced environments were investigated aiming to increase the green ear harvest, as well as to identify the main characteristics that contribute most to the productivity. Four row spacings were evaluated using three commercial hybrids. The experiment lasted three months and were evaluated: plant height (PH) and ear insertion height (EIH), leaf area (LA), stem diameter (SD), total number of ears, total ear yield, number of ear with straw and without straw, yield of ears with straw (YES) and yield ear without straw (YEWS), ear length (EL) and ear diameter (ED). In addition, the full correlation in direct and indirect effects was performed by the path analysis of the PH, EIH, LA, SD, EL, ED characters on the YEWS. It was found that the reduction of spacing to 60 cm favors higher YEWS without compromising the quality, size and diameter of the green ears. However, the EL, EIH and SD are the main characters that directly and indirectly influence the yield of green ears of maize hybrids cultivated in reduced spaced environment.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is originally from Central America and has acclimatization capacity to various climates, which gives it considerable plasticity and allows its cultivation in many areas of the world (Silveira, Bonetti, Tragnago, Neto, and Monteiro 2015)
For consumption in natura the green ears are harvested fresh at the physiological stage R3, with water content in the grain ranging from 70% to 80% of moisture, presenting characteristics such as color, flavor, texture, length and diameter of the ear suitable for the marketing of ears (Santos et al, 2015)
Similar results for PH were observed by Almeida Júnior et al (2018), according to the authors, the improved plant material and agronomic characteristics established by breeding programs do not suffer large variations in plant height when subjected to higher population densities in the crop, as it is an inherent characteristic of the genotype
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is originally from Central America and has acclimatization capacity to various climates, which gives it considerable plasticity and allows its cultivation in many areas of the world (Silveira, Bonetti, Tragnago, Neto, and Monteiro 2015). For consumption in natura the green ears are harvested fresh at the physiological stage R3, with water content in the grain ranging from 70% to 80% of moisture, presenting characteristics such as color, flavor, texture, length and diameter of the ear suitable for the marketing of ears (Santos et al, 2015). In this context, the green maize crop becomes attractive to small and medium producers, due to the possibilities of added value to the product by the market and by its demand (Williams, 2014). This work was proposed with the objective of verifying the green ear yield potential and direct and indirect relations between the green ear yield components, by means of the path analysis, identifying which trait presents the greatest contribution to the yield of green ears of maize hybrids cultivated in an environment with reduced spacing
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