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Biomass production in corn crops: Central zone of the Ecuadorian coast

Abstract:

The reduction of the gap between current and achievable corn yield represents an opportunity to increase the benefits of producers. For this purpose, as a first step, it is pertinent to evaluate the biomass production of corn. In a randomized complete block design, three maize hybrids were studied, in which the biomass distribution was determined at the stem, leaf and ear level, and the absorption of nutrients at harvest. Analysis of variance, Tukey’s test and regression analysis were carried out, considering the accumulation of biomass as a function of time. The hybrids evaluated reached the maximum accumulation of total biomass at 60 days. The accumulation of total vegetative biomass (stem plus leaf) and reproductive biomass, was adjusted to a sigmoid curve, while the decumulation of total vegetative biomass, maintained a simple linear trend. The performance of the modern hybrids evaluated is higher than that observed in the old hybrid, which responds to a greater absorption of nutrients and not to the accumulation and distribution of biomass. In conclusion, it suggests that the selection of materials with greater accumulation /decumulation capacity could contribute to increasing the yield of corn producers.