Keywords
late nitrogen, grain filling duration, grain filling rate, maize
Abstract
For decades, yield improvement in corn has been accompanied by an increase in plant nitrogen (N) uptake. Modern hybrids are absorbing more N during reproductive stages, while delaying N remobilization to the grain for later in the growing season. To evaluate the effect of late-season N applications in distinct corn genotypes, grain yield and grain filling parameters were evaluated in field experiments under early and late N regimes during 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Hybrids with different release years (3394, 1990s; P1151, 2000s; and P1197, 2016) and contrasting N application scenarios (including a zero-N control) were evaluated at the Kansas State University Ashland Bottoms Research Farm, Manhattan, KS. Results showed that under N stress conditions, the absence of N fertilization in corn significantly reduced yields, by affecting both grain number (GN) and grain weight (GW). Regarding genotypes, a positive trend was found between the year of release of the hybrid and yields, with greater yields for the modern hybrid (i.e., 206 bu/a for P1197). No significant effects were found between N applied at silking or 2 weeks after R1 for the 2017 field study; comparably, no impact of including an additional application at V12 was detected during 2018. In respect to the grain filling process, N fertilization significantly increased the grain filling duration (GFD) and grain filling rate (GFR). Still, evaluations across altered source-sink ratios are needed in order to investigate whether differential responses to late-season N are determined by variations in the availability of assimilate.
Recommended Citation
Fernandez, J. A. and Ciampitti, I. A.
(2019)
"Effect of Late Nitrogen Fertilization on Grain Yield and Grain Filling in Corn,"
Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports:
Vol. 5:
Iss.
6.
https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5977.7776
Rights Statement
