<b>Maize cultivars and plant population affecting green ear yield</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actasciagron.v32i1.987

Abstract

The producers of green corn aim at the professionalization of their production, providing high-quality products and in sufficient quantity to supply the most demanding markets. To achieve this goal, management techniques must be adopted to provide high yields without negatively affecting commercial traits. Aiming at evaluate the aptitude of cultivars and plant population effect on green corn yield, an assay was carried out in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State. Randomized blocks in a split-plot scheme were adopted as the experimental design. Cultivars (Penta, 30P34, DKB 214 and SWB 551) were primary and plant populations (3.5, 5.0, 6.5, 8.0 and 9,5 plants m^-2) were secondary treatments. Ear shape, length of unhusked ear, length of kernel set, diameter of husked ear, fresh weight of husked ear, kernel size, percentage of marketable husked ears, and number of marketable husked ears were characterized. The results demonstrated that 30P34, DKB 214, and SWB 551 are able to yield green ears and their higher yields are expected when grown in plant populations of 38,983, 59,866 and 43,591 plants ha^-1, respectively. Increasing plant population negatively influences all evaluated ear traits, except shape. DKB 214 cultivar had higher percentage and number of marketable husked ears.