Effect of harvesting time on forage yield and quality of maize

Abstract

Maize is the very important silage source in the world. Timely harvesting ensure high maize forage yield and quality. Therefore, the study focused on the effects of four harvesting times (starting at the 12 August every 7 days) on yield and qualitative parameters of forage green mass of maize hybrid ZP 677. The experiment was set in Vojvodina Province, Serbia, during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. Plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves per plant, ear percentage, forage yield, dry matter content and crude protein content were higher, while stem percentage was lower in 2014 with favorable climatic condition. Forage yield, crude protein content, ADF and NDF decreased, while dry matter content significantly increased with delay in harvesting. The maize hybrid should be harvested when the milk line is three-quarter of the way down the grain that is in the third decade of August.

Kukuruz je veoma važan izvor silaže u svetu. Pravovremenom žetvom kukuruza obezbeđuje se visok prinos i kvalitet krme za silažu. Stoga je istraživanje fokusirano na uticaj četiri datuma žetve (počev od 12. avgusta svakih sedam dana) na prinos i kvalitativne parametre silokrme hibrida kukuruza ZP 677. Eksperiment je postavljen u Vojvodini, u Srbiji, tokom 2013. i 2014. godine. Visina biljke, prečnik stabla, broj listova po biljci, udeo stabla, prinos krme, sadržaj suve materije i sadržaj sirovih proteina bili su veći, dok je udeo stabla bio manji u 2014. godini sa povoljnim klimatskim uslovima. Prinos krme, sadržaj sirovih proteina, ADF i NDF su se smanjivali, dok se sadržaj suve materije povećavao sa kašnjenjem u žetvi. Hibrid kukuruza za krmu treba sakupljati kada je mlečna linija tri četvrtine visine zrna što je u trećoj dekadi avgusta.