I would appreciate to receive any reference about methods currently used for pollination control (manual or mechanical emasculation, CMS) in commercial maize hybrid seed production.
See the attachment.
Maize Hybrid Seed Production Manual
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277076675_Maize_Hybrid_Seed_Production_Manual
Technical Report Maize Hybrid Seed Production Manual
Please see following link
https://ethiopianseedassociation.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/hybrid-maize-seed-production-manual.pdf
Hi,,
You may also want to check publications of IITA on pollination control. Check their website you may get something useful
Dear Yuan-Yeu, Suresh and Helen,
Thank you for your answers!
Best regards,
Noemi
A short film: a real-life story of how people de-tassels in the corn farms (USA), involved students:
Film link: http://www.myantelopecountynews.com/antelope-county/detasseling-teaches-work-ethics-as-kids-cash-in-on-corn
"The process for detasseling a field of corn plants is simple. First, a detasseling machine goes through the field and detassels all the corn plants it can. However, the machine can only detassel about 70 percent of the corn plants in the field.This is where the workers come in. They sweep through the field row by row and pick out any tassels that the machine could not get earlier. After the workers go through the field, over 99 percent of the corn plants are detasseled. On average, in a field of 2,500 "female" corn plants, only seven can remain tasseled."
In the attached picture shows that a student went through a machine-detasseled corn row to remove the remaining (not removed by machines) tassels. Students can earn some money from their work.
I would also like to point out that at film (mentioned above) time 0:20 and 0:57, you can see rows with tasseled plants and rows with de-tasseled plants in the background, as described in the attached diagram (below). The tasseled plants provide pollen source for the de-tasseled plants. This is the way they produce hybrid corn seeds in the corn field.
Dear Yuan-Yeu,
I really appreciate your new answer. It is always interesting to have the chance of discovering different approaches. Best regards,
Noemí
Pollination in maize mainly depends upon climatic condition during tasseling stage and male to female ratio. Ensure proper humidity in the field during pollination stage by applying irrigation 2-4 days before emergence of tassel. Maintain the number of male rows according to the seasons. During summer and rainy seasons crop, male rows ( male : female ratio 2:3) should be increased. During winter or mild temperature conditions, pollen production is high, male/female ratio can be kept as 1:3. Some time high temperature with low humidity and rains during pollination stage can affect the pollination. Planting season and sowing time play an important role in ensuring pollination and yield of hybrid seed production.
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