Evaluation of the growth of young corn plants grown in different types of soil

Abstract

Corn is a crop of great national importance, being the second most produced grain in Brazil. However, their yield is affected, among other factors, by soil fertility. The objective of this work was to evaluate the initial growth of two cultivars of maize cultivated in different types of soil. The experiment was conducted in the form of a randomized block design, in a factorial scheme two maize cultivars (Pioneer and Bandeirantes) x 3 soil types (clayey, mixed and black soil), with eight replications each. The height and diameter of the stem were evaluated weekly. The dry mass of the aerial part (MSPA), roots (MSR) and total (MST), as well as the MSPA / MSR ratio, were evaluated 21 days after emergence of the seedlings. For the height and diameter data, regression analysis was performed at a 10% probability level. For the other variables, we analyzed the factorial variance at x b at the 5% probability level. The software BioEstat version 5.3 was used. It was observed that T1 and T2, for both cv. of maize, obtained the highest results for stem height and diameter, MSPA, MSR, MST and MSPA / MSR ratio. Regarding the cultivar, Pioneer was superior to Bandeirantes for the variables MSPA, MST and MSPA / MSR ratio. Therefore, clayey and mixed soils were superior to black soil, favoring the initial development of corn plants.

Keywords

• zea mays l., vegetative development, biomass production, soil fertility.