Growth and productivitv of corn in three tillage systems and two row spacing

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the growth and corn yield as a function of row spacing and tillage system. The experiment was performed in an Alfisol typical eutrophic, moderate, heavy clay, in the municipality of IEPE (SP) in November 2010. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications in a split lot, with plots consisting of three tillage systems (tillage, subsoiling and disc harrow) and the subplots comprised two row spacing's (0.40 m and 0.80 m). The cultivar tested was the CD 384 HX. We evaluated the mass of 100 seeds, stem diameter, plant height and productivity of corn. The results were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and mean values were compared by Tukey test at 5% level of probability. The decreasing in row spacing from 0.80 m to 0.40 m, keeping the spacing between plants in the row, increased the grain yield in systems with more traditional soil structure, increasing the density of plants per area. On the other hand, plant height was maintained and stem diameter was reduced in preparation system with disk harrow.