The effects of different plant densities and silage corn varieties on silage yield and some yield parameters in no-till seeding

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of growing silage corn, which is used as an important nutrient in livestock and whose productionis increasing in recent years, by no-till seeding method under Erzurum conditions was investigated. For this purpose, three silage cornvarieties (DKC-5783, Prestige, and ADA-9510) suitable for Erzurum’s climatic conditions in terms of vegetation period were selectedfrom a large number of silage corn seeds widely grown throughout Turkey and their development conditions under no-till seedingconditions were investigated. A precision vacuum no-till seeder with double disk type furrow opener was used for silage corn seeding.Based on three different intrarow seed spacings (10, 15, and 20 cm), physical properties of soil, plant emergence, yield, and yieldparameters as well as the planting performance of the machine were examined. According to the results obtained from the study, it wasdetermined that mean emergence time decreased and seedling emergence increased as intrarow seed spacing increased. Furthermore,it was also found that DKC-5783 had the best emergence time, the best seedling emergence percentage, and the highest emergence rateindex. Where yield decreased as intrarow spacing increased, ADA-9510 had the highest yield among varieties. Generally, intrarow seedspacing of 20 cm and DKC-5783 and ADA-9510 gave the best results.