Performance of Corn Cultivars in the Fertilization Function in the Alagoas State, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is the third largest corn producer in the world. Despite the country’s position in the maize production ranking, some Brazilian regions have a significantly low maize crop yield, mainly due to lack of management recommendations for it. Thus, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the performance of maize cultivars subjected, or not, to NPK fertilization in Alagoas State hinterland. The experiment was carried out at Federal Institute of Alagoas – Piranhas Campus – from February 2019 to June 2019. It followed a randomized block experimental design at factorial arrangement (5x2), with four repetitions, which totaled 40 experimental plots. The first factor comprised five maize cultivars (BRS Caatingueiro, M274 Morumbi, BRS 2022, Crioula Cateto and AG 1051), whereas the second one encompassed NPK fertilizer application, or not. Fertilization led to the best results in most of the evaluated parameters and to increased grain yield (3,037.7 kg ha-1) in all evaluated cultivars. These outcomes evidenced how the fertilization technique, mainly the one comprising NPK macronutrients, can help increasing yield in maize production systems in Alagoas State hinterland. Among the cultivars evaluated, the hybrid 'AG 1051' was the one that stood out the most, except for the ear insertion height, in all the analyzed variables.