Corn Production

CORN PRODUCTION

INTEGRATED SOIL AND MANAGEMENT

LAND PREPARATION, SOIL, AND IRRAGATION MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION- CORN PRODUCTION 

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Growing corn isn’t just as simple as planting seed, hoping for rain and warm temps and then harvesting. You have to choose when you’ll plant, when you’ll spray, what nutrients you’ll apply, what hybrids you’ll plant and a multitude of other factors. Corn plant thrives on a wide variety of upland soil that is well drained. It can be planted on lowland field following rice crop provided that water table is sufficiently below soil surface. A seedbed that is deep, well pulverized yet frailly compact is excellent of corn production. A clayey and weedy field requires more plowing. In a weedy field were trash is not plowed under, a second or third operation maybe needed to obtain clean seedbed.

Plowing is normally done when fields is of right moisture ( when soil particles below ground separate and only a thin portion stick to fingers but no ball is formed ). However, sandy loam soil is easier to plow and narrow than clayey soil. Harrowing may be done for the first time when the soil has right moisture content.

The average daily water consumption of corn is approximately equal to field evaporation (4-5 mm per day) during sulking and soft dough stages, water use can be higher (6-8 mm per day). If water supply become critically inadequate during kernel development, potential yield maybe reduced by 20-50 percent water, whether from rain or irrigation, is vital in the release of soil nutrients for plant.

DISCUSSION:

1. CORN VARIATIES AND SEED PRODUCTION

Despite technology break though in corn research and development during the last two decades, major constraints continue to effect corn production in the Phil. Among this constraints are:

1. Lack of open pollinated varieties.
2. High rids of high yield and stable performance particularly those early maturing types.
3. Lack of adequate seed of high quality, especially POVs.

• Selection of Corn Varieties

• Planting appropriate corn varieties to a specific area may increases yield by as much as 20 percent. In selecting corn varieties, local adaptability to soil and climate, maturity yield decrease, resistance, insect tolerance and market demand should be considered. The date of maturity and extent of damage caused by insect’s pests and disease greatly influenced marketability and demand for green and shelled corn. Damage caused by insect pests and diseases can greatly reduce quality of produce. Early maturity, on the other hand, favors an early harvest and increases the possibility of getting a good market price.

• Choosing the Most Appropriate Corn Variety

1. LAND PREPARATION

Land preparation is the key to good crop establishments. It allows decomposition of plant residues, prevents weed growth, and improves soil tilt for better root development and absorption of nutrients.

1. Maintaining soil biodiversity a soil manages obtain for improving corn production.

• Maintaining healthy soil biodiversity can play an important role in optimizing land management programs to reap benefits from the living soil. The findings extend the understanding about the factors that regulate soil biodiversity.

1. Conserving Soil Ecosystem, Structure and Fertility  

• Erosion- soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the actions of water, wind, and other factors eat away and wear down the land, causing the soil to deteriorate or disappear completely. The main agents of soil erosion are wind, water, and tillage. Maintaining a continuous vegetative cover on the soil is usually the best way to control erosion. Soil deterioration and low quality of water due to erosion and run off has often become a severe problem around the world. Many times the problems become so severe that the land can no longer be cultivated and is abandoned. The key to minimizing soil erosion and saving the farm lands is the farmer himself. Ultimately, he is the one who must reduce the level at which erosion sediments are dislodged from his cropland.

1. Feel Methods: Classifying Soil Texture

• The common field method of classifying a soil is by its feel. Probably as much can be judge about texture and hence class of a soil merely by rubbing it between thumb and fingers as by any other superficial means. Usually it is helpful to wet sample in order to estimate plasticity more accurately.

Soil Texture:[pic 2]

1. Sandy soil- Sandy soil has the largest particles among the different soil types. It’s dry and gritty to the touch, and because the particles have huge spaces between them, it can’t hold on to water. Water drains rapidly, straight through to places where the roots, particularly those of seedlings, cannot reach. Plants don’t have a chance of using the nutrients in sandy soil more efficiently as they’re swiftly carried away by the runoff. The upside to sandy soil is that it’s light to work with and warms much more quickly in the spring. Testing what type of soil you’re working with involves moistening the soil and rolling it into a ball to check the predominating soil particle. When you roll the slightly wet sandy soil in your palms, no ball should be formed and it crumbles through your fingers easily. 

1. Loamy soil- dark in color and is mealy—soft, dry and crumbly—in your hands. It has a tight hold on water and plant food but it drains well, and air moves freely between soil particles down to the roots. The feel test for loam yields a smooth, partly gritty, partly sticky ball that crumbles easily. [pic 3]

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1. Clay soil- has the smallest particles among the three so it has good water storage qualities. It’s sticky to the touch when wet, but smooth when dry. Due to the tiny size of its particles and its tendency to settle together, little air passes through its spaces. Because it’s also slower to drain, it has a tighter hold on plant nutrients. Clay soil is thus rich in plant food for better growth. Clay soil is cold and in the spring, takes time to warm since the water within also has to warm up. The downside is that clay soil could be very heavy to work with when it gets dry. Especially during the summer months, it could turn hard and compact, making it difficult to turn. (When clay soil is worked while it’s too wet though, it’s prone to damage).

1. Soil Profile  Analysis

• A soil profile analysis describes the nature and extent of the soil horizons. A soil horizon is a layer of soil which is different from adjacent layers. By describing the relations between horizons, and delineating boundary layers- as well as the nature of water flow- the grower can better elucidate root penetration and restrictive layers.

• Soil fertility refers to the inherent capacity of a soil to supply nutrients to plants in adequate amounts and in suitable proportions.
• Soil productivity is related to the ability of the soil to yield crops and is a broader term since soil fertility is only one of the factors that determine the magnitude of crop yields.

1. UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT TYPES OF FERTILIZERS

Fertilizer any of a large number of natural and synthetic materials, including manure and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds, spread on or worked into soil to increase its capacity to support plant growth.