EFFECTS OF CULTIVARS, PLANTS DETASSELING AND SOWING PERIODS ON BABY CORN PRODUCTION
2002
GRACIELA SILVA CARVALHO | RENZO GARCIA VON PINHO | ISRAEL ALEXANDRE PEREIRA FILHO
Baby corn is the name given to young ears which haven’t been fertilized yet and with the advent of canned food industry it started being greatly consumed. Therefore, there was an increase in the cultivated area for this sort of consumption, just like it had happened to green maize some decades before. Different types of maize cultivars – sweet corn, popcorn and regular maize - have been used to produce baby corn although its cultivation is not really expressive and lacks agro-industrial technology and techniques, compared to other countries. Furthermore, little is known about its process of production and performance. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of maize cultivars in different sowing periods and plant detasseling performance on baby corn production. Experiments were carried out at the Brazilian Maize and Sorghum Research Center (EMBRAPA), Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil, from 1999 till 2001. Trials were planted on December 23, 1999, January 20, 2000, October 12, 2000 and February 02, 2001. The experimental design was a randomized block with 8 x 2 factorial scheme (8 maize cultivars, with and without detasseling), with three replications. Three baby corn harvests were performed every three days being the first 3 days after style-stigma emission (65 days after sowing). Agronomic characteristics such as the husked ears weight, the baby corn weight and the baby corn yield were evaluated. The DKB 929 cultivar showed better performance for husked ear weight and baby corn weight. Plant detasseling promoted an increase in commercial baby corn weight, regardless the sowing period. The significant interaction cultivar x sowing period indicates the need to evaluate cultivars in different sowing periods.
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