Yield, Quality, and Nitrogen Use of Inbred Corn with Varying Numbers of Leaves during Detasseling
1995
Wilhelm, W. W. | Johnson, B. E. | Schepers, J. S.
Detasseling is used in hybrid corn (Zea mays L.) seed production to ensure harvested seeds have the desired genetic complement. Both mechanical and hand detasseling result in loss of some leaf tissue and plant N. The objective of this study was to determine if seed yield and quality and N content of grain and stover were affected by leaf removal during detasseling. The treatments evaluated were removal of tassel only, tassel plus one leaf, tassel plus two leaves, tassel plus three leaves, tassel plus four leaves, and no tissue removed (control). The leaf area index (LAI) declined linearly, about 0.16 LAI units per leaf removed. Grain and stover yield also declined linearly with number of leaves removed with the tassel (r ² = 0.97 and 0.92, respectively). Each leaf removed reduced grain yield about 0.36 Mg ha⁻¹. Yield reduction was caused by decreased kernel size. Grain and stover N concentration and amount of N in stover did not vary among detasseled treatments. However, total N in the grain declined linearly as number of leaves removed increased (r ² = 0.97). Warm and cold germination and warm germination after accelerated aging were not affected by leaf removal during detasseling. Results reported here suggest that when leaves are removed from the plant at detasseling, the loss of photosynthetic capacity, the ability to intercept fight, and plant N all contribute to grain yield reduction. This paper is a joint contribution of the USDA-ARS and the Agric. Res. Div. of the Div. of the Univ. of Nebraska. Published as Journal Series no. 10449.
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