Plant Soil Environ., 2023, 69(10):480-485 | DOI: 10.17221/292/2023-PSE

Yield of sweet corn and sunflower as affected by different cultivation methods and fertilisation schemesShort Communication

Attila Vad¹, András Szabó², Oqba Basal³, Szilvia Veres³

¹ Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm (IAREF), Farm and Regional Research Institutes of Debrecen (RID), Experimental Station of Látókép, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

² Department of Crop Production, Applied Ecology and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

³ Department of Applied Plant Biology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

If appropriately applied, tillage can positively affect the crop’s yield by enhancing the soil’s physical properties. Fertilisation also has beneficial effects on yield if applied at efficient rates by increasing available-to-uptake nutrients and improving soil’s chemical properties. A field experiment was carried out in Debrecen, Hungary, to evaluate the individual and the interaction effects of these 2 factors on sunflower and sweet corn. The cultivation methods applied were ploughing (C1), direct drilling (C2) and deep loosening (C3). In addition, 3 fertilisation rates were applied to each cultivation system: F1 (control, no fertilisation); F2 (100 : 50 : 70) kg NPK/ha and F3 (150 : 100 : 120) kg NPK/ha in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with 4 replicates. Our results showed that fertilisation did not affect the yield of sweet corn measurably. However, C1 resulted in the highest yield, whereas C2 and C3 resulted in relatively similar yields. In sunflowers, the yields of both C1 and C2 were higher than that of C3. No significant differences were recorded between C1 and C2. The yields of both F2 and F3 were higher than the yield of F1. The differences between F2 and F3 were insignificant. It could be concluded that the cultivation method is a determining factor in the yield of sweet corn. The effects of both fertilisation and cultivation treatments were more detectable in sunflowers. The differences between the two fertilisation rates (F2 and F3) were insignificant in both species, indicating that the extra fertilisation levels might be unnecessary.

Keywords: Zea mays L.; Helianthus annuus L.; nutrition; productivity; seed bed

Received: July 18, 2023; Revised: September 6, 2023; Accepted: September 12, 2023; Prepublished online: October 20, 2023; Published: October 30, 2023  Show citation