Growth of Plants and Productivity of Corn in a Cold Climate

Аннотация

Under conditions of a relatively cool and humid growing season in the central agro-climatic region of the Komi Republic, corn is not inferior in terms of the growth rate and photosynthetic activity of the crops traditionally cultivated in the northern Nonblack Earth region. The purpose of the research is to study the possibility and prospects of growing early ripening hybrids of corn in the soil and climatic conditions of the Komi Republic. The field experiment was performed on the basis of the Institute of Agriculture of the Komi Scientific Center (Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) in 2016–2017 on an area of ​​1.6 ha. Six varieties of corn were studied in 2016 and an additional 15 in 2017. Thus, seven varieties were selected from 21 varieties and hybrids for further study. The results of a preliminary study of the ecological testing of early ripening corn hybrids cultivated under the agro-climatic conditions of the Komi Republic are presented. The features of their growth and development and the formation of green mass yield are considered. Among the studied varieties, the Uralskiy 150 is distinguished with the best feed characteristics. Its plants formed 11–12 leaves with a specific surface density of 0.3 g/dm², the leaf cenosis index was 4 m²/m, and the maximum rate of photosynthesis of the leaves of the middle layer reached 17 μmol CO₂/m² s. The average yield of green mass of the studied varieties and corn hybrids for two years was 380 kg/ha. The dry matter content in biomass did not exceed 20%, the content of raw protein reached 12%, and the content of fiber reached 29%.