engleski

Maize response to conservation tillage and nitrogen management

Tillage system and fertilizer-N management are needed to improve sustainable maize production. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of conservation tillage and nitrogen rates at various growth stages on maize production. Experiments were conducted at two locations: Čačinci (GPS: Long. 17.86336 E ; Lat. 45.61316 N) and near Magadenovci (GPS: Long. 18.70648 E ; Lat. 45.55555 N) on hydromorphic soil types during 2012/2013. The field experiments included three nitrogen fertilizer levels (N1 level was 30% lower compared to fertilizer recommendation, N2 level was equal to fertilizer recommendation and N3 level of fertilization was 30% higher compared to fertilization recommendation) on four different soil tillage treatments (SS- subsoiling, DH- chiselling, NT- direct seeding and CT-conventional tillage). According to the data, the level of nitrogen fertilizer, soil tillage system and specific locations had significant impact on corn stalk weight, weight of cob, grain weight per cob, biological and agricultural yield. All parameters had higher values on Magadenovac location. Thousand grain weight was under significant influence of tillage systems and fertilization treatments. No significant differences in thousand grain weight were found between CT (324 g), SS (305 g) and DH (307 g), while NT produced significantly smaller weight (276 g) according to other tillage treatments. The nitrogen fertilizer level according to the recommendation (N2) recorded the highest thousand grain weight (313 g), corn stalk weight (344 g), weight of cob (362 g), grain weight per cob (185 g), biological and agricultural yield (46 and 12 t per hectare). The stalk weight, weight of cob, grain weight per cob, biological and agricultural yield were highest on CT, SS and DH treatments without significant differences between them. The lowest value was detected on NT treatments for all parameters. This research has proven that using conservation tillage and fertilization according to recommendation can achieve equally high yields and yield components as conventional soil tillage.

maize ; yield component ; nitrogen fertilization ; conservation soil tillage

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