THE EFFECTS OF EARLY HARVESTING ON THE SEED VIGOUR OF THREE CORN (ZEA MAYS L.) HYBRIDS BASED ON GERMINATION CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

Time of harvesting in the case of corn is a key factor that contributes to obtain high seed vigour. In the context, the study was conducted at the Agricultural Experimental Area of Mustafa Kemal University, Turkey (36?15? N and 36?30? E), to evaluate the germination characteristics of three corn hybrids including ?Dekalp 6589 (FAO 700)?, ?Cadiz (FAO 700)? and ?Bolson (FAO 600)?. In order to use them in the present experiment, seeds of the selected corn were harvested at 5 day intervals, starting from the milking stage (seed harvesting of all corn hybrids was done 30 days after tasseling) to physiological maturity stages. Data on 1000 grain weight (1000-GW), electrical conductivity (EC), germination ratio (GR), germination index (GI), accelerated aging test index (AATI), cold test, cold test germination index (CTGI), and cold test germination time (CTGT) significantly varied among the selected hybrids in response to harvesting at different times. When harvesting was done after 30 days of tasseling the dry matter in cultivar ?Cadiz? showed the lowest, while the cultivar ?Bolson? showed the maximum dry matter. The earliest black layer in the cultivar ?Dekalp 6589? was found after 50 days while in the other two hybrids it was recorded 5 days later (55 days). The techniques of the present study related to evaluation seed vigour by estimating and evaluating germination properties may be used in future research as well as by farmers in field conditions for sustainable corn production in the changing climate.