Impact of sowing date and tillage method on morphophysiological traits and yield of corn

Abstract

Environmental variations related with different sowing dates have an altering effect on the growth and development of corn plants. A field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of sowing date and tillage method on corn growth and yield. The treatments included two tillage systems (conventional and no tillage) and seven sowing dates (11-May, 18-May, 25-May, 1-Jun, 8- Jun, 15-Jun and 22-Jun). The interaction between tillage method and sowing date showed that the highest kernel yield (KY), biological yield (BY) and harvest index (HI) were observed at first sowing date and conventional tillage method and the lowest KY, HI and BY were obtained in no-tillage method and latest sowing date in both years. Delay in sowing from 11-May to 22-Jun decreased significantly the plant height, leaf number, leaf area index and yield by 6.43, 7.98, 17.36 and 42.7% in 2014 and 7.93, 8.87, 14.88 and 40.01% in 2015, respectively. The highest crop growth rate (CGR) was observed in conventional tillage (56 and 49 (g day 1m -2 )) as compared to no-tillage (45.7 and 46.5(g day-1m -2 )) in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The leaf area index (LAI) had a positive and significant correlation with corn height, leaf number and yield.