Transplanting and Seed Hydro-priming Affects Yield, Water Use Efficiency, and Grain Quality of Maize Cultivars under Delayed Planting

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of planting method (PM), planting date (PD), and cultivar (CV) on the grain and herbage yield, irrigation water use efficiency for herbage (IWUEH) and grain (IWUEG), and grain quality of maize, a two-year field study was conducted at the Research Farm of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran, during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. The experiment was arranged as split-plot factorial with three planting dates, including PD1 (July 1st), PD2 (July 11th), and PD3 (July 23rd) as main plots. Three planting methods, including direct seeding (DS), seed hydro-priming (HP), and transplanting (TP), were factorially combined with two maize cultivars (S.C.704 and S.C.260) as sub-plots. The highest herbage and grain yields (76685 and 7369 kg ha-1, respectively) and the maximum IWUE for herbage and grain production (13.1 and 1.21 kg m-3, respectively) were found in the TP. The CV S.C.704 obtained a higher grain yield (GY) on PD1 than that of S.C.260, but as planting was delayed, the GY of S.C.704 was affected more negatively in both years. Delay planting enhanced IWUEH, but not IWUEG. The highest IWUEG was obtained from TP on each PD. The CV S.C.260 in delay planting resulted in better IWUEG in both years. The highest and lowest contents of crude protein, starch, ash, crude fiber, and oil were obtained from hydro-primed and transplanted maize, respectively. In conclusion, the yield in the transplanting method had superiority over DS and HP. Also, HP was found to be the optimal PM to enhance the grain quality of maize in delayed planting. Furthermore, selecting S.C.260 as a high-yielding hybrid on delayed planting is suggested.

Keywords

• Planting method
• planting date
• zea mays L
• crude protein
• semi-arid region

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