DENSIDADE DE PLANTAS, COMPONENTES DO RENDIMENTO E QUALIDADE DE SEMENTES DE VARIEDADES CRIOULAS E COMERCIAIS DE MILHO

Abstract

Considering the actual tendency of increasing plant densities in corn crops and the lack of information about this issue on varieties used by smallholder farmers, in this research was assessed variations in plant density of corn and seed quality. The experiment was located in Imbaú, PR, trasition climate zone Cfa/Cfb, on crop season 2011/2012, using the landrace varieties Nutricional, Caiano, MPA and Composto and the commercial varieties BRS Sol da manhã® and BRS Missões®, on plant densities of 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 thousand plants ha-1. Stem diameter of plants, ear height of corn, number of seed lines per ear, number of seeds in lines of the ear, number of seeds per ear, mass of a thousand grains and yield were determined in the assessments, besides seed germination, vigor and seed quality. There was interaction between varieties and cultivars for mass of a thousand seeds, seed germination and vigor and seed sanity. For most of varieties, plant densities of 30 and 40 thousand plants favored increasing of stem diameter, yield components and seed germination and decreased incidence of Penicillium spp e Fusarium spp. With the increasing of plant densities starting at 50 thousand plants ha-1, for all varieties, there were decreasing on stem diameter and increasing of lodging plants rate, with consequent increasing of incidence of diseases and decreasing of seed germination. On Caiano and Composto varieties, decreasing of seed germination may be related to the incidence of Fusarium spp. It is possible to conclude that increasing corn’s plant density causes decreasing of yield components, yield and seed quality for most of varieties and cultivars assessed, especially to plant densities of more than 30 thousand plants ha-1. For physiological parameter, the ideal is the utilization of 30 thousand plants ha-1 for variety Composto and cultivar BRS Misssões®, 40 thousand plants ha-1 for varieties Caiano and Nutricional and 50 thousand plants ha-1 for variety MPA and cultivar BRS Sol da Manhã®. Plant densities of 30 thousand to 50 thousand plants ha-1 present less incidence of Penicillium spp e Fusarium spp in all varieties and cultivars.