Nursery Water Supply and Biomass Accumulation Relationships in Super Sweet Maize (sh2)

Abstract

An agricultural intensification with maize transplanted crops for increasing food production is needed. However, super sweet maize water management during nursery has been designed from old genotypes in the 90´s decade, which indicate that a water stress during nursery did not change plant growth. The aim of this work was to determine the effects of the watering regime during nursery on biomass accumulation for three different super sweet sh2 maize hybrids to test the hypothesis that a different nursery water supply driven pre- and post-transplant super sweet maize biomass accumulation. Our results from seedlings watered with 100%, 75% or 50% daily evaporation are not in agreement with this previous report and showed that a water stress during nursery would be considered as a limiting source to decrease maize early biomass accumulation. A very early water stress during nursery decrease early post-transplant biomass accumulation, leaf area expansion and change photo assimilates partitioning. These results would force to a change in the commonly accepted water management when a transplant routine from plug trays was used for improving agricultural intensification.