Trends in Maize Grain Yields across Five Maturity Groups in a Long-Term Experiment with Changing Genotypes

Buhiniček, Ivica; Kaučić, Dražen; Kozić, Zdravko; Jukić, Mirko; Gunjača, Jerko; Šarčević, Hrvoje; Stepinac, Domagoj; Šimić, Domagoj

doi:10.3390/agriculture11090887

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Trends in Maize Grain Yields across Five Maturity Groups in a Long-Term Experiment with Changing Genotypes

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Bc Institute for Breeding and Production of Field Crops, Rugvica, Dugoselska 7, 10370 Dugo Selo, Croatia

Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, Ravnice 48, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

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Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding (CroP-BioDiv), Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

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Agricultural Institute Osijek, Južno Predgrađe 17, 31000 Osijek, Croatia

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Pedro A. Casquero

Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 887; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090887

Received: 6 July 2021 / Revised: 4 September 2021 / Accepted: 13 September 2021 / Published: 15 September 2021

(This article belongs to the Section Crop Production)

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Abstract

Combining experimental studies on grain yield variability with crop model simulations in maize could assist in choosing the optimum maturity group for a certain location, counteracting the effect of climate change. However, studies considering specificities in Southeast Europe are lacking. The objectives were to put various environmental covariates including stress degree days (SDD) into FAO maturity settings to determine the impact of climate change on maize growing in Southeast Europe and to compare trends for grain yields over twenty years of maize experimental and simulation data grouped in five FAO maturity groups (FAO 200–FAO 600). Pre-registration yield trials of maize planted in one location in Croatia grown from 1996 to 2015 were used to determine “potential yield”. Correlation coefficients between 12 climate covariates and grain yield (GY) across the maturity groups revealed the tightest negative associations between SDD and GY that were weakened by later-maturity groups. Similar trends in GY were obtained by both experimental and simulation data, highlighting FAO 600 as a nearly no yield-reducing FAO group over the two decades. Our results indicate that choosing early maize hybrids in Southeast Europe does not seem to be an optimum option in the future, since these hybrids are more sensitive to omnipresent heat stress than late hybrids. View Full-Text

Keywords: maize hybrids; grain yield; relative maturity; heat stress; Southeast Europe

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MDPI and ACS Style

Buhiniček, I.; Kaučić, D.; Kozić, Z.; Jukić, M.; Gunjača, J.; Šarčević, H.; Stepinac, D.; Šimić, D. Trends in Maize Grain Yields across Five Maturity Groups in a Long-Term Experiment with Changing Genotypes. Agriculture 2021, 11, 887. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090887

AMA Style

Buhiniček I, Kaučić D, Kozić Z, Jukić M, Gunjača J, Šarčević H, Stepinac D, Šimić D. Trends in Maize Grain Yields across Five Maturity Groups in a Long-Term Experiment with Changing Genotypes. Agriculture. 2021; 11(9):887. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090887

Chicago/Turabian Style

Buhiniček, Ivica, Dražen Kaučić, Zdravko Kozić, Mirko Jukić, Jerko Gunjača, Hrvoje Šarčević, Domagoj Stepinac, and Domagoj Šimić. 2021. "Trends in Maize Grain Yields across Five Maturity Groups in a Long-Term Experiment with Changing Genotypes" Agriculture 11, no. 9: 887. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090887

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Trends in Maize Grain Yields across Five Maturity Groups in a Long-Term Experiment with Changing Genotypes

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