ASA Southern Branch 2008 Annual Meeting
February 3-5, 2008
Dallas, TX
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Tropical Open Pollinated Corn (Zea mays) Forage and Grain Yields in Southern Honduras.
Kent Gallaher, ACU Box 27986, Abilene Christian Univ., Abilene Christian University, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Scien, Abilene, TX 79699-7986, Dylan Wann, Agricultural and Environmental Science, Abilene Christian University, 4346 Buttermilk Road, Torrington, WY 82240, and Raymond Gallaher, University of Florida, 2600 SW Williston Rd. #621, Gainesville, FL 32608.
Agricultural research in Latin America focuses on mechanized production of high yielding corn (Zea mays L.) hybrid varieties that are often beyond the reach of subsistence farmers. A study was conducted in 2007 at Refugio Mision Lazaro, Jayacayan Honduras , to evaluate the yield of twenty five potential varieties of subtropical open pollinated and seven hybrids of field corn. Varieties differed with respect to seed color (purple, white, yellow), seed type (dent, flint), ear size and position, shuck characteristics, and protein content. The study utilized a CRD with four replications. Management was with methods traditional to local subsistence farmers. Population was 33,400 plants ha-1. Forage yield (standardized at 30%DM), grain yield (standardized at 15.5% moisture), and lodging data were collected at harvest. Variety test results were 45.2 Mg ha-1 to 84.6 Mg ha-1 (P < 0.05), 3,463 kg ha-1 to 8,023 kg ha-1 (P < 0.05), and 2.5% to 30.7% (P < 0.05) for forage yield, grain yield and lodging respectively. High yield open pollinated varieties in this study were on par with yields from the five experimental and two hybrids often grown in southern Honduras . Improved open pollinated varieties represent a good alternative to expensive hybrid seed for subsistence farmers in Latin America.