New data from the University of Illinois has made clear that sweet corn has seen steady yield increases since the 1930s. This data underscores the importance of planting modern density-tolerant hybrids at their optimal densities. It also suggests an opportunity to improve density tolerance even more.
Daljeet Dhaliwal, doctoral student in the Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois and lead author on a new Frontiers in Plant Science article: “Over time, steady improvement in plant density tolerance has contributed greatly to genetic yield gain in field corn. While our recent research indicates plant density tolerance in modern sweet corn hybrids could be exploited to improve yield, historical changes in plant density tolerance in sweet corn were unknown.”
Dhaliwal and Marty Williams, a USDA-ARS ecologist and adjunct professor in the department, tested sweet corn crowding tolerance in hybrids (dating from 1934 to 2014). They discovered marketable ear mass increased by a total of 2.85 tons per acre over the 80-year time period when grown at high densities. This amounts to 0.36 tons per acre per decade.
Modern hybrids appeared to be more suited for growth at high densities. “Plant architecture has become more compact. Plants are putting fewer resources into vegetative tissue, so there's less fresh biomass and fewer tillers. That means modern plants are really suitable for growing at higher densities. There's less interference, right? But when you plant them at low densities where there is no competition, these plants are not out-yielding older hybrids,” Dhaliwal told aces.illinois.edu.
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