To feed maize fodder during winter, I need short duration maize cultivar which can perform well when the temperature is below 5 degree Celsius and able to bear frost injury.
Thanks Dr Hari, but work in this field should be started by plant breeders for evolving cold resistant hybrids. may be in future we have such kind of corn hybrids?
No there are not. As Hari Ram points out the maximum frost tolerance is around -2C providing the growing apex is below ground level, photosynthesis fails in moist US cornbelt dent hybrids below 15C and significant damage occurs with brief exposure to sunlight at 10-12C. Some Mexican varieties (Criollo de Toluca) can emerge from cold soils but will not establish a working photosynthetic system at 12C. Confite Puneno from high altitudes in the Bolivia -Peru region will establish a working photosystem at 13C but growth is very slow. It does not grow as well as US cornbelt dent varieties above 28C. The introgression of genes for cool tolerance into high yielding agronomically acceptable US CBD type varieties is very difficult, time consuming and is NOT controlled by a small number of genes.
I suggest that you consider some of the flinty, very short season German varieties based on the European flint germplasm .. they are cold avoiders ~65 day RM. They will certainly be killed by temperatures below about -1.5C but will produce good grain in short seasons, the flinty nature means that it can be harvested without too much damage at high moisture.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agricultural Science
- Agronomy
- Crop Science