Research Progress concerning the Influence of Biotic and Abiotic Factors on the Quality of Maize Silage

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (14 April 2022) | Viewed by 8532

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Department of Agronomy, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Dojazd 11, 60-632 Poznan, Poland
Interests: maize; fertilization; tillage; soil protection; eutrophication; silage; green forage; technological quality of the yield
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Guest Editor
Faculty of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Poznan University of Live Sciences, ul Wojska Polskiego 28, 60-637 Poznan, Poland
Interests: phytochemicals; bioactive food ingredients; microbiological and physico-chemical quality of raw materials and crops; polyphenols; antioxidants
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Guest Editor
Department of Grassland and Natural Landscape Sciences, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Dojazd 11, 60-632 Poznań, Poland
Interests: forage grasses; grasslands; fertilization; bioactive fertilizers; Zea mays; sorghum; plant protection
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Maize green fodder is the primary raw material for the preparation of silage, which in turn is the main feed on farms specializing in ruminant animal breeding. It is even more important in areas with a low proportion of permanent pasture or in regions with intensive milk production and high cattle stocks. In recent years, the profitability of milk and beef production has been recorded, with a simultaneous increase in the requirements of milk and meat purchasing centers regarding the quality of these products. Meeting the required quality can be achieved mainly through an appropriate feeding and feed balancing system. Maize silage accounts for a significant percentage in the ration of the correct and optimized feeding cattle model. In addition, maize silage allows the farmer to have full control over the quality and quantity of feed and every stage of feeding compared to, for example, pasture feeding. In view of the development of world agriculture, it can be anticipated that the acreage of maize grown for whole-plant silage will increase, and thus the share of maize silage in the balance of preserved fodder will reach the level that is currently recorded in European countries. The quality and nutritional value of silage depend on many microbiological and agriculture factors that determine the course of the ensilage process. The preservation effect depends, inter alia, on the variety, dry matter content, soluble sugars, nitrogen compounds, pH and temperature, as well as the quantitative and species composition of microorganisms. In addition, the quality of the raw material for ensilage and, consequently, nutritional and production parameters of silage are determined by biotic and abiotic factors, as well as new agriculture solutions and means of production (variety, type of variety, fertilization, soil cultivation, plant protection, harvest date, preservatives and many others).

Prof. Piotr Szulc
Prof. Dr. Joanna Kobus-Cisowska
Dr. Waldemar Zielewicz
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • maize
  • chemical composition
  • nutritional value
  • nutritional value measures
  • energy yield
  • feed microbiological status
  • production cost (economic calculation)
  • milk and meat production
  • microbiological and microbiological and enzymatic inoculants and ensilage course
  • unit productivity of mineral fertilization vs. feed production

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1433 KiB  
Article
SPAD Leaf Greenness Index: Green Mass Yield Indicator of Maize (Zea mays L.), Genetic and Agriculture Practice Relationship
by Piotr Szulc, Jan Bocianowski, Kamila Nowosad, Waldemar Zielewicz and Joanna Kobus-Cisowska
Plants 2021, 10(5), 830; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10050830 - 21 Apr 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4005
Abstract
The study presents the results of two field studies (Experiment I, Experiment II), whose aim was to assess the impact of agriculture factors on maize green mass and leaf greenness index (Soil and Plant Analysis Development, SPAD) in critical growth stages, as well [...] Read more.
The study presents the results of two field studies (Experiment I, Experiment II), whose aim was to assess the impact of agriculture factors on maize green mass and leaf greenness index (Soil and Plant Analysis Development, SPAD) in critical growth stages, as well as to determine the relationship between the SPAD index and the yield of green maize for ensiling. It was shown that thermal and humidity conditions in maize growing seasons determined the value of the SPAD leaf greenness index and the yield of maize harvested for silage. Row application of mineral fertilizer (N, NP) and selection of “stay-green” varieties guarantee a higher yield of maize green mass. Growing maize in direct sowing reduces chlorophyll content expressed in SPAD units, thereby reducing plant nitrogen condition, which significantly decreases the yield of biomass intended for silage. The SPAD leaf greenness index determined in critical stages of maize growth can be considered as a yield predictor of green mass for ensiling. The examined maize cultivars were divided into two groups on the basis of hierarchically grouping using the unweighted pair group method of arithmetic means. The first group comprised cultivars SY Cooky and Drim “stay-green,” while the second one included cultivars ES Paroli “stay-green” and ES Palazzo. Full article
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17 pages, 9799 KiB  
Article
Dry Matter Yield of Maize (Zea mays L.) as an Indicator of Mineral Fertilizer Efficiency
by Piotr Szulc, Katarzyna Ambroży-Deręgowska, Hubert Waligóra, Iwona Mejza, Stanisław Grześ, Waldemar Zielewicz and Barbara Wróbel
Plants 2021, 10(3), 535; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10030535 - 12 Mar 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3748
Abstract
This study presents the results of 3-year field trials, whose purpose was to assess the dynamics of dry matter accumulation by maize depending on the placement depth of a two-component (NP) mineral fertilizer in the soil layer, type of nitrogen fertilizer and date [...] Read more.
This study presents the results of 3-year field trials, whose purpose was to assess the dynamics of dry matter accumulation by maize depending on the placement depth of a two-component (NP) mineral fertilizer in the soil layer, type of nitrogen fertilizer and date of its application. Weather conditions, mainly thermal in the early growing season, had a significant effect on maize responses to placement depth of phosphorus starting dose in the soil profile. In the initial stage of maize development, the temperature determined plant growth to a significantly higher extent than the sum of rainfall. The dry matter yield of ears and whole plants showed a clear reaction to starter phosphorus fertilization, but the effect of the depth of fertilizer placement varied over the years, indicating a depth of 5 cm and 10 cm as advisable and recommended for agricultural practice. The PFPFN (partial factor productivity of fertilizer nitrogen) and PFPFP (partial factor productivity of fertilizer phosphorus) indices confirmed the significant effect of fertilizer (NP) placement in the soil profile, indicating row fertilizer application (regardless of the depth) as recommended to improve the efficiency of maize fertilization. The SPAD (soil plant analysis development) leaf greenness index turned out to be a sensitive indicator of maize response to fertilizer (NP) placement depth in the soil profile. Full article
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