Shortening Internodes Near Ear: An Alternative to Raise Maize Yield

Zhao, Yating; Lv, Yanjie; Zhang, Shuai; Ning, Fangfang; Cao, Yibing; Shu-hua, Liao; Pu, Wang; Huang, Shoubing

doi:10.1007/s00344-021-10326-1

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The number of spikelets formed on an ear is the primary determinant of potential yield as it sets the upper limit for the number of kernels per plant (Jacobs & Pearson, 1992). Floret initiations start at the 9‐leaf stage (approximately V5), during early vegetative growth, and last for about 5–10 days (Zhao et al., 2021). Thus, start of floret initiation coincided with the time of PAC application in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Zhao et al. (2021), after application of plant growth retardants, frequently observed reductions in cob size and kernel number and thus grain yield, are related to application time. In their investigations, ethephon applied at the floret initiation period suppressed floret development and reduced cob size and potential kernel number.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their investigations, ethephon applied at the floret initiation period suppressed floret development and reduced cob size and potential kernel number. With delayed application time, floret initiation was protected and grain yield increased compared with the untreated control, mainly due to an increased kernel number per cob (Zhao et al., 2021). Because PAC and ethylene, the active ingredient of ethephon, both hamper culm elongation growth, effects of ethylene on maize plants are possibly applicable to PAC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, between 100% and 78% NPK, cob length and cob diameter of Galactus decreased significantly (Figure 4c and 4d). Like potential kernel number, cob length is also determined during early vegetative growth (Zhao et al., 2021). Considering the grain nutrient concentrations at maturity, particularly not only N deficiency but also P deficiency of PAC‐treated Galactus plants seem to be unlikely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can nutrient‐utilization efficiency be improved by reduced fertilizer supply to maize plants treated with the plant growth regulator paclobutrazol?

Hütsch

Schubert

2021

J Agronomy Crop Science

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In previous investigations of several maize cultivars, an improvement of the harvest index was obtained by paclobutrazol (PAC) application combined with an increase in water‐use efficiency. However, so far nutrient‐utilization efficiencies could not be enhanced when control and PAC‐treated maize plants received the same amount of fertilizers. With adjusted fertilizer supply according to the lower requirement of the smaller, PAC‐treated plants, an improvement of nutrient‐utilization efficiencies may be expected. Thus, in the present study, PAC was applied at growth stage V5 to two maize cultivars (Zea mays L. cvs. Galactus and Fabregas) grown in a container experiment. Shortly after PAC application, differential NPK fertilization was introduced in order to obtain a nutrient supply according to the requirement of control plants (100% NPK), the requirement of PAC‐treated plants (85% NPK) and a further slight decrease (78% NPK). Plant height and transpiration rates were significantly reduced due to PAC treatment with stronger effects on Galactus than on Fabregas. Pollen shed, silking and the anthesis‐silking interval (ASI) were unaffected by PAC application and fertilizer supply. Senescence of PAC‐treated plants was delayed, whereas it was accelerated with reduced fertilizer supply. The grain yield of cultivar Galactus was significantly decreased due to PAC application by 13% to 20%, and this effect was strengthened due to reduction in NPK supply. These grain yield reductions were solely caused by decreases in kernel number, which were closely linked to reductions in cob length. On the contrary, PAC treatment did not affect grain yield of Fabregas and reductions due to less NPK supply were small. Harvest index and water‐use efficiency were enhanced by PAC treatment. Plant nutrient contents were similar for control and PAC‐treated plants, but strongly related to fertilizer supply with significant decreases due to reductions in NPK application. The N‐, P‐ and K‐utilization efficiencies of both cultivars were either decreased or unaffected by PAC treatments. The key constraint for improvements of nutrient‐utilization efficiencies is grain yield reduction due to PAC. This problem should be addressed in further studies with avoidance of grain yield decreases by delayed application time combined with fine‐tuning of cultivar‐specific PAC application rates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Can nutrient‐utilization efficiency be improved by reduced fertilizer supply to maize plants treated with the plant growth regulator paclobutrazol?

Hütsch

Schubert

2021

J Agronomy Crop Science

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show abstract

“…In previous studies, after ethephon application, stalk rind penetration strength, bending strength, lignin content and the key enzymes activities in lignin synthesis were significantly increased, which was beneficial to enhance stalk lodging resistance and increase the yield [31]. However, some studies showed that spraying ethephon in environments where lodging did not occur led to a reduction in maize yield [32,33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spraying Ethephon Effectively Increased Canopy Light Transmittance of Densely Planted Summer Maize, Thus Achieving Synergistic Improvement in Stalk Lodging Resistance and Grain Yield

Geng

Sun

Ren

et al. 2022

Plants

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Increasing planting density is an effective way to improve maize yield, but high plant populations often cause a lodging problem. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of increasing planting density on stalk lodging resistance and grain yield, and to explore the effects on stalk and yield properties of spraying ethephon in densely planted summer maize. The summer maize hybrid, Xundan20 (XD20), was used as experimental material. It was grown by spraying water (CK) or ethephon (E) at BBCH (BASF, Bayer, Ciba-Geigy and Hoechst) 17 under three different planting densities of 60,000 plants ha−1 (L), 75,000 plants ha−1 (M) and 90,000 plants ha−1 (H) in order to explore the possibility of synergistic improvement in stalk lodging resistance and grain yield. The results from this experiment suggested that the gravity center height of densely planted summer maize was significantly increased, the stem diameter, area and number of vascular bundles were significantly decreased and the dry weight per unit internode was significantly decreased, thereby weakening the stalk rind penetration strength and bending performance, resulting in a significant increase in lodging percentage. The ear height was significantly decreased and the SPAD (soil and plant analysis development) and canopy light transmittance were increased after spraying ethephon; then, the internode dry weight per unit length was increased and the stalk rind penetration strength and bending performance were enhanced so as to significantly reduce the lodging percentage and increase the grain yield. The correlation analysis further showed that lodging percentage was significantly negatively correlated with stem diameter, area and number of vascular bundles and stalk bending performance, but there were no strong relationships with grain yield. This suggested that the synergistic improvement in stalk lodging resistance and grain yield was not contradictory. Under the experiment conditions, the effect of spraying ethephon was most significant when the planting density was 90,000 plants ha−1. At the time, the lodging percentage and grain yield were 12.2% and 11,137.5 kg ha−1, which were decreased by 44.6% and increased by 8.0% compared with the control treatment. Scientific chemical regulation could significantly improve the stalk lodging resistance and grain yield of densely planted summer maize.

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High Dose of Plant Growth Regulator Enhanced Lodging Resistance Without Grain Yield Reduction of Maize Under High Density

Ren

Qian

Niu

et al. 2022

Int. J. Plant Prod.

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Shortening Internodes Near Ear: An Alternative to Raise Maize Yield

Cited by 14 publications

References 52 publications

Can nutrient‐utilization efficiency be improved by reduced fertilizer supply to maize plants treated with the plant growth regulator paclobutrazol?

Can nutrient‐utilization efficiency be improved by reduced fertilizer supply to maize plants treated with the plant growth regulator paclobutrazol?

Spraying Ethephon Effectively Increased Canopy Light Transmittance of Densely Planted Summer Maize, Thus Achieving Synergistic Improvement in Stalk Lodging Resistance and Grain Yield

High Dose of Plant Growth Regulator Enhanced Lodging Resistance Without Grain Yield Reduction of Maize Under High Density

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