Relationship between Relative Maturity and Grain Yield of Maize ( Zea mays L.) Hybrids in Northwest New Mexico for the 2003–2019 Period

Koffi Djaman, Curtis Owen, Margaret M. West, Samuel Allen, Komlan Koudahe, Murali Darapuneni and Michael O’Neill
Additional contact information
Koffi Djaman: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 1018, Farmington, NM 87499, USA
Curtis Owen: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 1018, Farmington, NM 87499, USA
Margaret M. West: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 1018, Farmington, NM 87499, USA
Samuel Allen: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 1018, Farmington, NM 87499, USA
Komlan Koudahe: ADA Consulting Africa, Lomé 07 BP 14284, Togo
Murali Darapuneni: Department of Plant and Environmental Science, Agricultural Science Center-Tucumcari, New Mexico State University, Tucumcari, NM 88401, USA
Michael O’Neill: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 1018, Farmington, NM 87499, USA

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: The highly variable weather under changing climate conditions affects the establishment and the cutoff of crop growing season and exposes crops to failure if producers choose non-adapted relative maturity that matches the characteristics of the crop growing season. This study aimed to determine the relationship between maize hybrid relative maturity and the grain yield and determine the relative maturity range that will sustain maize production in northwest New Mexico (NM). Different relative maturity maize hybrids were grown at the Agricultural Science Center at Farmington ((Latitude 36.69° North, Longitude 108.31° West, elevation 1720 m) from 2003 to 2019 under sprinkler irrigation. A total of 343 hybrids were grouped as early and full season hybrids according to their relative maturity that ranged from 93 to 119 and 64 hybrids with unknown relative maturity. The crops were grown under optimal management condition with no stress of any kind. The results showed non-significant increase in grain yield in early season hybrids and non-significant decrease in grain yield with relative maturity in full season hybrids. The relative maturity range of 100–110 obtained reasonable high grain yields and could be considered under the northwestern New Mexico climatic conditions. However, more research should target the evaluation of different planting date coupled with plant population density to determine the planting window for the early season and full season hybrids for the production optimization and sustainability.

Keywords: relative maturity; maize hybrids; grain yield; semiarid climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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