Influences of herbicide treatments and row spaces on the maize growth and yield parameters

Abstract

The herbicide application and crop arrangement modifications are measures that can reduce weed abundance and support maize to compete over weeds. The aim of the investigation was to test and compare the growth and yield parameters of maize cultivated with standard and narow distances and with pre- and post-emergence chemical weed control. The experiment was conducted in the MRI Zemun Polje, Belgrade, during 2014-2016. Maize hybrid ZP 388 was grown with 50 cm and 70 cm row spacing, i.e 59,500 and 83,333 plants ha-1, respectively. The herbicide treatments included: control, a pre-emergence treatment of S-metolachlor+mesotrione and the post-emergence application of nicosulfuron+mesotrione. Six weeks after herbicides application, the biomass of whole maize plant (BMP) was measured, while the chlorophyll content (CH), leaf area (LA) and the leaf area index (LAI) were evaluated at the stage of fully developed maize plants. The Harvest index (HI) and grain yield (GY) were measured at harvest. The herbicide application caused significant differences in all maize parameters. The BMP, CH, LA, LAI, HI and GY were the highest when the post-emergence herbicides treatment was applied (25.22 g, 61.16, 4545.76 cm2, 3.22, 0.46 and 9.56 t ha-1, respectively) and the lowest in control (15.21 g, 49.35, 3356.02 cm2, 2.39, 0.41 and 5.87 t ha-1, respectively). Maize cultivation with 70 cm row distance was significantly advantageous for LA, HI and GY, (4316.33 cm2, 0.45 and 9.19 t ha-1, respectively) in comparison to the 50-cm row distance (3940.96 cm2, 0.43 and 7.36 t ha-1, respectively). The post-emergence herbicide application and standard 70-cm row distance are beneficial for the growth and yield of the hybrid developed under agro-ecological conditions of Serbia.