Aspects of Yield, Productivity and Corn Seeds Parameters in the Context of Mineral Fertilization

Abstract

The applied research, under farm conditions, evaluated the yield, productivity and some seeds parameters in two corn hybrids in relation to mineral fertilization. The study was conducted over three agricultural years (2022 – 2024) in the area of ​​ATU Racovița, Timis County, Romania. Pioneer 9911 and KWS Kashmir corn hybrids were cultivated. Fertilization was done with complex fertilizers (20/20/0) at a dose of 150 kg/ha and CAN (27% N a.c. – active substance) at a dose of 300 kg/ha. The mean yield value for the Pioneer 9911 hybrid was  = 8106.70 kg/ha, and for the KWS Kashmir hybrid it was  = 7650.00 kg/ha. In 2023, both hybrids provided yields with positive differences (p<0.05, *), and in 2024 they provided yields with negative differences (p<0.01, oo) compared to the means values. The mean yield value at the experiment level was  = 7878.30 kg/ha. Compared to the experiment mean, the Pioneer 9911 hybrid generated higher yield values ​​in 2022 (p<0.01, **) and in 2023 (p<0.001, ***), and the KWS Kashmir hybrid generated higher yield values ​​in 2023 (p<0.05, *). In 2024, for both hybrids, the yield was below to the mean value, with statistically significant differences (p<0.001, ooo). The variation of broken grains (BG, %) in relation to foreign bodies (FB, %) was described by a polynomial equation of degree 2, under conditions of R² = 0.981, p = 0.0026. The Partial Factor Productivity (PFP) index in relation to nitrogen provided by mineral fertilization recorded values ​​between PFP = 80.991±6.694 for the Pioneer 9911 hybrid (year 2023), and PFP = 57.658±5.674 for the KWS Kashmir hybrid (year 2024).