Strip tillage and sowing: is precision planting indispensable in silage maize?

Abstract

<span class="fontstyle0">This work was aimed at assessing whether in silage maize it is possible to replace precision<br />planting with a volumetric seeding in the perspective of developing hybrid machines to strip till<br />and sow both high density crops like winter cereals and low density crops like maize. This in<br />order to reduce the number of machines in the farm, simplify logistics and reduce amortization<br />costs. Two experiments were carried out in 2014 and 2015. In the first year, two tillage-sowing<br />treatments were compared in a randomized block design with 5 replicates: 1) strip-tillage plus<br />volumetric band (0.1 m wide) seeding (ST-VBS) carried out by a Claydon Hybrid 6M at inter<br />axle spacing of 0.6 m and with 35 kg ha</span><span class="fontstyle0">-1 </span><span class="fontstyle0">of seeds; 2) no-tillage plus precision line planting<br />(NT-PLP) carried out by a sod drill Kinze 3100 at row distance of 0.71 m. In the second year,<br />the same two treatments of 2014 were applied, but a third tillage-sowing treatment was also<br />included: strip tillage plus precision line planting (ST-PLP) carried out by a strip tiller Khun<br />Striger at inter axle spacing of 0.71 m plus the Kinze 3100, respectively, in two passages.<br />In 2015, a randomized block design with 3 replicates was adopted. Both in 2014 and 2015<br />treatments did not differ significantly for actual seeding density and final plant density,<br />individual plant growth indices (plant height, stem diameter, FW, DW) at early stem elongation,<br />flowering and final harvest, neither for total FW and DW yield, nor for biomass composition<br />(starch, protein, lipids, fibre and ash concentrations) at harvest. Results demonstrate that a silage<br />maize crop can perform successfully when established by strip tillage associated with<br />volumetric band seeding. If similar results are demonstrated for high density crops, this will<br />support the strategy of developing hybrid machines to strip till and sow both high density crops<br />and silage maize, which is relevant for many farming systems devoted to forage and biomass<br />production for agro-energy purposes.</span>