Agronomic Characteristics and Silage Quality of Corn Hybrids Produced from Yoju and Ichon Dairy Farms

Although corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids are now widely grown as a silage crop in Korea, but agrononucdata and silage quality of the corn hybrids produced from farmer's fields have not been published.Therefore. a research survey assessing forage yield and quality of the corn hybrids was conductedat 8 and 13 dairy farms in 1988 and 1989, respectively. in Yoju and Ichon, Kyeongi Province.In 1988, percent ear bearing plants. plant population. ear/total dry matter ratio, percent dry matterand dry matter yield of corn hybrids were 75.3%. 75.826 plants/ha, 38.3%. 23.8% and 12.661 kg/ha,respectively, compared with corresponding values of 79.5% 79,981 plants/ha. 41.1%. 20.7% and16,152 kg/ha in 1989. but 11.9% of rice black streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) was recorded in 1989.The Flieg's score of corn silage made by dairy farmers ranged from 70 to 100 and averaged91. The corn silage produced from dairy farms was characterized as a high quality grade. Survey dataindicated that late maturing types of corn hybrids with a higher plant population were grown at farmer'sfields. As a result, the performances of the corn hybrids produced by farmers were much lowerthan those of research institutes. Therefore, dairy farmers in the mid-northern regions of Korea shouldgrow more early maturing corn hybrids and use much lower plant population than those of the present.