Grain yield of corn (Zea mays L.) as affected by leaf angle, leaf orientation value and canopy solar radiation interception at grain filling stage

Date

4-2012

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture

Major Course

Major in Agronomy

College

College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Pompe C. Sta. Cruz

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in 2011 dry season to determine the effect of leaf angle, leaf orientation value and canopy solar radiation interception on the yield of corn varieties. There were 14 treatments represented by the different corn hybrid varieties as the variables. At grain filling stage, significant differences among 14 corn hybrids were observed on leaf area, leaf angle, leaf orientation value (LOV), canopy solar radiation interception, and extinction coefficient parameters. About 35% reduction in k value per one unit increase in LAI was obtained. At harvest, significant difference among 14 corn hybrids was observed on grain yield, percent kernel recovery efficiency, number of kernels per plant and kernel weight parameters. Based on the correlation analyses, leaf angle and LOV was not associated with solar radiation interception and extinction coefficient. However, the relationship between solar radiation interception and extinction coefficient were positively significant. The optimum k value obtained for the maximum solar radiation interception was 0.87. Leaf angle, LOV, solar radiation interception, and extinction coefficient were not significantly correlated to the total dry matter, harvest index, percent recovery efficiency and grain yield. These results showed that leaf angle, LOV and extinction coefficient per se did not influence the grain yield of corn. The number of kernels was not significantly correlated to leaf angle and LOV. Moreover, the number of kernels per plant and solar radiation interception were negatively correlated, while the kernel weight was not affected by leaf angle, LOV, and solar radiation interception. Based on the multiple regression analysis, kernel weight has more contribution to the grain yield compared with the number of kernels per plant. While the leaf orientation of test varieties are within the category of verticals (leaf angle range: 29.690-47.930), further studies during wet season using corn varieties with wide range of leaf angle are needed to validate the association of the aforesaid parameters with corn grain yield, particularly under solar radiation-limiting condition.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2012 A3 B34

Document Type

Thesis

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