THE IMPACT OF SOIL PREPARATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MAIZE

Abstract

The study was carried out by growing two different varieties of common maize plants with the use of different soil preparation technology. The purpose of this study was to determine whether different tillage affects the yield of maize silage. The field experiment was conducted at the farm of Jolita Kvedienė in Tauragė District, Gaurė Eldership, Stirbaičiai Village in 2022-2023. In the experiment, 2 varieties of common maize (Zea mays L.) were studied: KWS MAGNET and ES SCORPION. The field of the experiment is dominated by light and medium loam, classified as gley brown soil. In the area chosen for the experiment, the soil acidity was close to neutral (pH 6.6). Humus content reached up to 3.41%.  The chosen size of the field of the experiment is 10 hectares, divided into plots of 2.5 hectares. Fertilizer NPK 15-15-15-(10) was used during sowing at the rate of 250kg ha^-1. The meteorological conditions were quite favourable for the growth of maize.

The purpose of the study is to investigate and compare the influence of different tillage methods on the productivity of selected varieties of common maize. After the evaluation of the obtained results, it was determined that the best quality and the highest above-ground biomass yield (49.5t ha^-1) was grown by maize of KWS MAGNET variety with the use of plowing. Less productive (42.8 t ha^-1) was maize of EU SCORPION variety.  When shaving was applied, both KWS MAGNET and ES SCORPION varieties of maize were less productive (41.3 t ha^-1 and 40.2 t ha^-1), respectively. It was also found that the maize, which was grown using arable technique, had a better chemical composition.