Ecophysiological factors affecting maize behaviour of late summer planting in Central Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the source-sink relationships, as well as the effects of morphophysiological factors that limit the grain yield of maize plants of different cycles (normal, early and very early) planted in late summer ("safrinha"). This trial included three plant populations (33, 55 and 77 thousand plants/hectare). Hybrid efficiencies related to duration of growth and yield were evaluated, in the vegetative and reproductive phases. The grain yield varied among hybrids and populations, and the best yields were found in the highest plant population for all hybrids. The maximum values for leaf area index within hybrids resulted in high grain yields and contributed greatly to total dry matter accumulation in the plant and grain. All the hybrids had incomple grain filling, which indicates low offer of assimilates during this stage, especially for very early hybrids. This suggests that the source was lower than the capacity of the sink and in this case, besides grain yield, other vegetative parts were injured in their development. Environmental conditions for cultivating in late summer are not the best for the development of the maize plant, mainly for hybrids of very early cycle.