Seeding Pattern Impact at Crop Density Establishment and Grain Yield of Maize

Abstract

Maize is the most represented grain crop on the world’s arable land. It is mostly grown using standard sowing at an inter-row distance of 70 cm. However, growing in two rows (double-row sowing) is increasingly common today. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of different spatial distributions of the same population of maize plants on the yield of maize grains in a larger range of the FAO maize hybrid maturing group. The experiment lasted 5 years and was set up at two locations in Jakšić (Požeško-Slavonia County) and Lužani (Brodsko-Posavina County). Maize sowing with standard sowing was carried out with a PSK OLT seed drill with an inter-row spacing of 70 cm, while double-row sowing was carried out with a MaterMacc Twin Row-2 seed drill in two rows spaced 22 cm apart in a zigzag arrangement and 48 cm apart between adjacent sowing furrows. In the experiment, a total of three types of maize hybrids were used: H1-Kashmir (FAO 390 maturing group), H2-Kapitolis (FAO 400 maturing group) and H3-Konfites (FAO 450 maturing group). With standard maize sowing, an average set of plants was achieved: 71,946 plants ha−1 (Kashmir), 71,714 plants ha−1 (Kapitolis) and 72,205 plants ha−1 (Konfites), while the double-row sowing achieved a set of plants of 72,166 plants ha−1, 72,104 plants ha−1 and 72,576 plants ha−1. The two-row sowing of the hybrid Kapitolis and Konfites recorded a statistically significant higher set of maize plants. The yield of maize grains in all three types of the hybrid was statistically and significantly higher by 943 kg ha−1 using two-row sowing, and the highest yield was achieved by the Kashmir hybrid (13,406 kg ha−1).