Productivity and economic efficiency of growing of hybrids of the corn depending on the methods of watering and protection of plants in the south of Ukraine

Abstract

In recent years, maize has been ranked first in the world in terms of yield and gross grain yield. The rapid growth rates of this culture are due to high fodder, food and technical qualities, as well as an extremely high positive reaction to the latest technological developments, including the use of drip irrigation. On irrigated lands, combined with the influence of a sufficient amount of heat energy resources, maize has the highest grain yield.

In modern agricultural production, there are many ways to distribute irrigation water along the surface of the field. They differ in the principle of application depending on the cultivated plants, geography of use, cost, water and energy consumption, etc. Basically distinguish irrigation furrow or holes (irrigation by flooding), sprinkling, irrigation hose, drip irrigation etc. All this types have their advantages and disadvantages.

The current trend in the protection of plants against pests is called integrated because agricultural practices into account the degree of stability of cultivated varieties to diseases and pests, the number of entomophagy and use of chemical and biological agents. The purpose of the research was to study the productivity and economic efficiency of growing maize hybrids for different irrigation methods and schemes of plant protection against pathogens. Also the objective of research was to determine the influence of the investigated factors on phonological indicators, yield dynamics and economic efficiency of corn cultivation on grain.

Field experiments were carried out in accordance with the experimental research, testing and application of pesticides in the conditions of LLC «Zlato Tavriya» in the Beryslav district of the Kherson region during 2014-2016.

Agrotechnical cultivation of maize hybrids for grain was generally recognized for the conditions of southern Ukraine, in addition to the investigated methods of irrigation and schemes of protection of plants against pathogens.

The results of phenological observations have shown that the duration of interphase periods, as well as the whole vegetation period, depends on the group of maturation of the studied hybrids of corn. The smallest difference regarding the length of phases of growth and development was noted in the second half of the vegetation from the milk phase to the waxy ripeness of the grain – 1-3 days, and the largest – 10-14 days, in the period from the wax to the full ripeness of the grain.

The highest yield of grain at the level of 14.5 t/ha has provided for the growth of the hybrid N.K. Pako with a drop irrigation and two treatments with fungicide Abakus. With the use of drip irrigation, the yield of hybrids increased by an average of 12.7 t/ha, which is 8.4% more than in case with sprinkling, where the rate was 11.7 t/ha. Concerning the influence of the investigated factors on the productivity of corn plants, the dispersion analysis has proved the advantage of hybrid composition and plant protection. These factors contributed to the yield of 30.8% and 29.3% respectively.

The largest net profit at the level of 36.3 thousand UAH/ha was in the variant with the hybrid N.K. Pako with irrigation droplets and maximum protection against diseases – two treatments by fungicide. For the same combination of options received the highest profitability – 156.5%.

According to the results of field studies, during cultivating maize for grain, the maximum yield of grain at the level of 14.5 t/ha provides the use of the hybrid N.K. Pako, with drip irrigation and the maximum chemical protection against pathogens. The developed technology of corn cultivation provides conditional net profit of 36.3 thousand UAH/ha and profitability at the level of 157%.