Optimum planting time for Maize (Zea mays L.) in Northern Sudan

Transcription

1 Optimum planting time for Maize (Zea mays L.) in Northern Sudan Abdel Rahman Ahmed Mohamed 1 and Eltahir Siddig Ali 2 Abstract The optimum planting time of maize is a key factor for grain yield maximization. Therefore, this study was conducted at Hudeiba Research Station Farm for two consecutive years ( ) to determine the appropriate planting time for maize in northern Sudan, in such a way that maize growers will have optional planting dates all the year round. Cultivar Hudeiba-1 was used in a randomized complete block design, with three replicates. Thirteen sowing dates starting from 17 July to 19 January at 15 days interval were tested in each year. The results showed that, sowing date had a significant effect on maize grain yield and the other measured yield components. Grain yield of maize increased significantly from sowing dates ranging from 17 September to 18 November in both years. October the third sowing dates gave the highest mean grain yields in both years separately and combined as 3176, 2951 and 3063 kg/ha, respectively. However, sowing between 17 of September and the 18 th of November can be considered as reasonable optimum sowing dates for farmers to obtain comparable grain yields. From the regression analysis, results also indicated that sowing dates earlier than the third week of September or later than the first week of December resulted in substantial grain yield reduction for the two years separately and combined. In addition, these results fully supported the previous recommendation for growing maize as a winter crop in northern Sudan. Introduction Maize (Zea mays L.) is the fourth cereal crop in Sudan, after sorghum, wheat and millet, but recently gained more importance as a forage and industrial crop than other cereal crops. The crop has a high potential in northern Sudan, being grown during both summer and winter seasons and yields ranging from 2 t/ha to 5 t/ha can be obtained under optimal conditions. The optimum planting date of maize in Sudan is one of the key components for farmers and growers to get better maize yields. The warm mean daily temperature and the stem borer infestation are the two major abiotic and biotic stresses that limit maize production in northern and other parts of Sudan. Earlier investigators research in northern Sudan showed that maize could be grown all the year round. In this regard, El karouri and Mansi (1980) reported that the mean daily temperature is the most important environmental factor that greatly influences maize final yields. While, Babiker (1997) reported that poor or no yields were obtained with delayed sowing dates due to stem borer damage at Rahad Research Station. In contrast, El Karouri and Mansi (1980) obtained high maize forage yield from winter sowing (November- December) in Khartoum area. In northern Sudan, although research on maize in the past focused more on breeding aspects, however, Imam (1965) found that the optimum planting time for maize under Hudeiba Research Station conditions would be from the last week of September to the end of October, 1 Hudeiba Research Station, (ARC) 2 Gezira Research Station, (ARC) 1

2 while, Ibrahim (1995) on the same site obtained high maize grain yield from November sowing as compared with that of December or January, which could be attributed to the suitable low temperatures at the nicking stage. A long- term maize sowing date experiment was conducted during season at Hudeiba Research Station by the first author. It showed that maize could be grown all the year round, However, substantial maize grain yields were obtained when sown from the first week of August to the end of January. The recommendation for maize to be grown as a winter crop showed that, the optimum sowing date was the first week of October (Abdel Rahman et al., 2003). However, their results were obtained from three planting dates (October, November and December). Furthermore, the Husbandry Committee argued that one month sowing interval is too long and it is better to use the 15-days interval. Therefore, in this study 13 sowing dates were used to determine the optimum planting time for maize in such a way that maize growers will have optional sowing dates and also, to fine- tune the previous optimum sowing date recommended for northern Sudan. Materials and Methods This study was carried out during two years ( ) at Hudeiba Research Station Farm to determine the optimum planting time for maize in northern Sudan. Thirteen sowing dates at 15 days interval started from 17 July to 19 January were tested in each year Mean daily and monthly temperature during the two growing periods for different sowing dates is presented in Table 1. Cultivar Hudeiba-1 was used in this study. The seeds were treated with Gaushw at a rate of 1 g/kg seeds and planted in holes spaced at 30 cm and 60 cm intra and inter row spacing, respectively. The crop was thinned to one plant/hole ten days after emergence to give a population of plants/ha. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design, with three replications. The plot size was 3 m wide and 5 m long comprised of 5 rows. The experiment received 86 kg N/ha as urea three weeks after planting. The plots were kept weed free manually and irrigated every 7 to 10 days. Grain yield was assessed and the harvested ears were shelled and air-dried. Samples of five ears taken at random from the plots were used to determine the yield components. Data for grain yield and other agronomic traits were collected and analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) standard procedure for the randomized complete block design. The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) package was used. Table 1. Mean daily and monthly temperature for the different sowing dates at Hudeiba Meteorological Station during Month 2005/ /2007 Mean daily and monthly temperature (ºC ) Mean Mean July August September October November December January February March April

3 Results Grain yield (kg/ha) Sowing date significantly (P 0.05) affected grain yield in both years, with the highest grain yield obtained from the first week of October sowing date for the two years separately and combined. High grain yield was obtained from 17 September to 18 November sowing date (Table 2). The regression analysis, results also indicated that sowing dates earlier than the third week of September or later than the first week of December resulted in substantial grain yield reduction for the two year separately and combined, as presented in Table 2 and Figure 1-3. Table 2. Effect of sowing date on maize grain yield in kg/ha for actual and fitted values from experiments grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm during two seasons. Sowing Date First season Second season Combined Actual Fitted Actual Fitted Actual Fitted 17 July 495 e f f August 300 e f f August 676 e f f September 875 e d e September 2339 bc bc bc October 3176 a a a October 2634 b b b November 2545 b b b November 2135 bc bc cd December 1843 cd c d December 1397 d de e January 538 e ef f January 424 e ef f SE± Means followed by the same letters within the same column are not significantly different at P 0.05 according to DMRT. 3

4 Figure 1: Effect of sowing date on grain yield (kg/ha) of maize grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm, 2005/06. Figure 2: Effect of sowing date on grain yield (kg/ha) of maize grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm, 2006/07. 4

5 Figure 3: Effect of sowing date on grain yield (kg/ha) of maize grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm, combined. Yield components Measured yield components were significantly affected by sowing date in both years, except for 100- kernel weight in the first year (Table 4). Kernel number per ear reflected similar trend to that of grain yield, where sowing dates earlier than the third week of September or later than the first week of December resulted in substantial reduction for the two years, as presented in Table 3. On the other hand, ear weight was less affected by sowing date, although significant higher ear weights were revealed by late September and October sowing dates (Table 5). The three yield components used; number of kernels/row, 100-kernel weight and ear weight were significantly (P 0.01) and positively correlated to grain yield with (r) values of 0.936, and for the three yield components, respectively. 5

6 Table 3. Effect of sowing date on number of kernels per ear of maize grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm during two seasons. Sowing date 2005/ / 2007 Mean 17 July August August September September October October November November December December January January Mean S.E ** 23.9** Table 4. Effect of sowing date on 100- kernel weight (g) of maize grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm during two seasons. Sowing date 2005/ / 2007 Mean 17 July August August September September October October November November December December January January Mean S.E.+ Ns 1.17* 6

7 Table 5. Effect of sowing date on ear weight (g) of maize grown at Hudeiba Research Station Farm during two seasons. Sowing date 2005/ / 2007 Mean 17 July August August September September October October November November December December January January Mean S.E ** 5.85** Table 6. Correlation between grain yield and yield components Trait Grain yield (kg/ha) Number of kernels/row 100 kernel weight (g) Number of kernels/row ** 100 kernel weight (g) ** ** Ear weight (g) ** ** ** n =13 ** Significantly different at P Discussion The study revealed that, substantial maize grain yield was obtained from the sowing dates of 17 September to 18 November. Such results could be attributed to the observed low scores of the stem borer recorded during this planting time, due to the absence of sorghum, which represents the main source of the insect pest. Moreover, the average mean daily temperature is within the optimum range as reported by Asghari and Hanson (1984). The highest grain yield resulted from sowing at the first week of October was in line with the findings of Imam (1965) who obtained high maize grain yield from 29 September sowing and with Mukhtar et al. (2007) who reported high maize grain yield amounting to about 5000 kg/ha from winter sowing. The sowing date range suggested by this study is longer than that of Imam (1965) for Hudeiba Research Station conditions and El karouri and Mansi (1980) for Khartoum area, but it is shorter as compared with that reported by Mukhtar et al. (2007). This could be attributed to the favorable temperature and probably low stem borer infestation in Dongla area, in contrast with the situation at Rahad, where stem borer damage caused drastic reduction in grain yield of maize as reported by Babiker (1997). 7

8 The low grain yields resulted from the early sowing dates could be attributed mainly to the stress of the high temperatures during fertilization and grain development. Babiker (1984) reported that temperature above (33 ºC) had adverse effect on maize fertilization and grain development and attributed the low yield to early maturity and hence, short grain-filling periods. This was evident by the reduction in number of kernels/ear resulted from January sowings in addition to the high stem borer infestation during these sowing dates (Table 3 and 4). On the other hand, though the stem borer damage is negligible during November- January sowings, however, the low temperature and the aphid's infestation greatly reduced maize growth and grain yield, particularly in the second year of the study. Conclusion The results reported here in clearly indicated that substantial maize grain yield could be obtained from sowing dates of 17 September to 18 November. This gives farmers and growers optional sowing dates for raising maize in northern Sudan. Furthermore, high maize grain yield can be obtained beyond that range if other constraints mentioned in the text are efficiency controlled. Recommendations Based on the results of this study, the Crop Husbandry Committee is kindly requested to recommend the following. The optimum planting time for maize in northern Sudan is the first week of October. However, sowing between 17 th of September to 18 th of November could be a reasonable option for the farmers. References Asghari, M., and R. G. Hanson Nitrogen, climate and previous crop effect on corn yield and grain N. Agronomy Journal. 76: Babiker, E. A Maximum yield with corn (Zea mays L.) as affected by irrigation, plant density, nutrition and hybrid. Ph.D. Thesis. The Ohio State university, USA. Babiker, E. A Effect of sowing date and plant density on growth and yield of irrigated maize (Zea mays L.) at Rahad (Sudan). U. of K J. Agric Sci., 7 (1) p El Karouri, M. O. H. and Mansi, M.G Performance of sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) and maize (Zea mays L.) as forages in Irrigated saline soils of the Sudan. Experimental Agriculture. 16, Ibrahim, A. M Maize cultivar and sowing date experiment. Hudeiba Research Station. Ann. Rep. 1995/1996, ARC, Sudan. Imam, A.I Maize agronomy experiment. Hudeiba Research Station, Ann. Rep. 1995/65, ARC, Sudan. Abdel Rahman, A. M. Magboul, E. Lazim. and Abdelatief, E. Nour Effect of sowing date and cultivar on yield and yield components of maize in northern Sudan. NCHC, June, ARC, Wad Medani, Sudan. Mukhtar, A. M., Eltahir, S. A., Siraj, O. M. and Hamada, A. A Effects of weeds on growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) in Northern State, Sudan. Sudan Journal of Agricultural Research. Vol. 8: