Murányi, Eszter

Pepó, Péter

Columella Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

University of Debrecen Electronic Archive

  | 95 
Columella - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Vol. 1, No. 2 (2014)
PLANT DENSITY IMPACT ON GRAIN YIELD OF MAIZE (Zea mays L.) 
HYBRIDS ON CHERNOZEM SOIL OF THE EASTERN HUNGARY
Péter PEPÓ1 – Eszter MURÁNYI2
Institute of Crop Science of Agricultural and Food Sciences of Environmental Management, Centre of Agricultural 
Sciences, University of Debrecen, 138. Böszörményi út, Debrecen H-4032, Hungary
e-mail: 1. pepopeter@agr.unideb.hu; 2. emuranyi@gmail.com
Abstract
The plant density response of 12 maize hybrids was tested in a favourable year (2013) under optimum agrotechnical 
conditions on chernozem soil by applying plant densities of 50, 70 and 90 thousand plants ha-1. Due to the favourable 
ecological and agrotechnical conditions yields varied between 11400 and 16300 kg ha-1 depending upon the hybrid 
and the plant density. From among the hybrids, 5 and 7 produced the maximum yield at 70 and 90 thousand plants 
ha-1, respectively however the yield increment was not significant between 70 thousand plants ha-1 and 90 thousand 
plants ha-1. No relationship was found between the season length and the optimum plant density of hybrids. Those 
hybrids were the most favourable, which gave a stable high yield at different plant densities that is their optimum 
plant density range was wide (P 9175, P 9494, SY Afinity). Hybrids with a small optimum plant density range 
(P 9578, DKC 4490, PR 37N01) gave the highest yield at a specific plant density (70 thousand plants ha-1 or 90 
thousand plants ha-1). A special complex coordinate system was developed for evaluation for the plant density 
response of maize genotypes specific ecological and agrotechnical conditions can be evaluated jointly.
Keywords: maize, plant density, hybrids, grain yields
Introduction
In Hungary, the number of registered hybrids 
has been the highest in maize for decades among 
the field crops. The number of maize hybrids 
has been around 400 for several years. This 
large hybrid portfolio provides the farmers 
with a great selection potential on the one hand, 
however, it also hinders the judgement of the 
objective traits of the hybrids. From among 
the agrotechnical elements applied in maize 
production technology several have a direct or 
indirect effect on the yield and the agronomical 
and economic efficiency of production.
According to Tokatlidis and Koutrubas (2004), 
the optimum plant density resulting in maximum 
yield has increased due to the great plant density 
tolerance of the new maize hybrids, but the 
potential yield per plant has not changed. 
Modern hybrids are highly dependent upon 
the plant density, because they can produce 
the maximum yield only in a small range due 
to the high number of plants. According to 
Sárvári (2005), plant density has a decisive 
effect on yield. With increasing plant density, 
the yield per plant decreases, but the yield per 
unit area increases until the optimal number of 
plants ha-1 is reached. Vad et al. (2007) found 
that, the optimum plant density is an important 
factor in sustainable maize production. Besides 
the genotypes and agrotechnical elements 
(fertilization etc.) the ecological factors (water 
supply, rainfall quantity and its distribution, 
physical and chemical properties of soil etc.) 
strongly modify the optimum plant density 
of maize. In the study of Pepó et al. (2006), 
increasing population density results in small 
amounts of additional yields (0.2-1.6 t ha-1). In 
the study of Dawadi and Sah (2012), the highest 
yield (11.19 t ha-1) was obtained at a plant density 
of as compared to the plant density of 55555 
plants ha-1. There was no significant difference 
between the yields of 66666 plants ha-1 and 
83333 plants ha-1 (10.54 t ha-1). Gozübenli et 
al. (2004) and Lashkari et al. (2011) found that 
plant density has a significant effect on yield. The 
yield increased up to the plant density of 90000 
plants ha-1 (10973 kg ha-1), above that value it 
was reduced. Widdicombe and Thelen (2002) 
also obtained the highest yield at the plant density 
of 90000 plants ha-1. Hoshang (2012) also found 
that there is a significant difference between the 
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yields at different plant densities and that the 
yield increases with increasing plant density. 
In the study of Mohseni (2013), the increase 
of plant density from 60000 plants ha-1 (9.09 t 
ha-1) to 80000 plants ha-1 (11.14 t ha-1) resulted 
in a yield increment. Roekel and Coulter (2011) 
stated that there is a close relationship between 
maize yield and plant density. The tested hybrid 
reached its maximum yield at the plant density 
of 81700 plants ha-1.
Materials and methods
The plant density response of maize hybrids was 
studied in a small-plot field experiment at the 
experimental site of the University of Debrecen 
Centre for Agricultural Sciences at Látókép, 
which is located in Eastern Hungary in the 
loess region of Hajdúság (47o 33’ N, 21o 27’ E). 
The experiment was set up in four repetitions. 
The parcel size was 15.2 m2. Three different 
plant densities (50, 70, 90 thousand ha-1) were 
applied. In the season of 2013, an experiment 
was set up in which the plant density response 
of 12 maize hybrids of different genotypes and 
different vegetation period on a calcareous 
chernozem soil. The fertilizer doses applied in 
favour of the site-specific fertilization were N 
108 kg ha-1, P 0 kg ha-1 and K 0 kg ha-1.
The hybrids were from the FAO 290-470 
range. Most of the hybrids were developed 
in Hungary and taking into consideration on 
the local conditions. The examined hybrids 
were grown across the country. For example, 
the sowing area of NK Lucius was more than 
40,000 hectares in 2013. In the last three years 
PR 37N01 were grown in the largest area in 
Hungary.
When evaluating the weather of 2013 and its 
effect on maize yields, the early spring weather 
should also be taken into consideration in 
addition to the weather during the season. The 
extremely high amount of precipitation (163.3 
mm) in March 2013 greatly contributed to the 
fill-up of the water stock of the chernozem soil. 
The weather of May-June provided favourable 
conditions for the vegetative development of 
maize hybrids. The favourable fore crop (winter 
wheat), the applied proper agrotechnique and 
the water stock of the chernozem soil could 
reduce the unfavourable effects of the dry and 
hot weather of July (precipitation: 15.6 mm) 
and August (precipitation: 32.2 mm) (Table 1).
For the statistical analysis of the experiment, 
we used bi-factorial variance analysis in SPSS 
13 for Windows.
Results
The significant vegetative mass provided for 
the physiological conditions of the extremely 
high yields obtained in 2013 (Table 2). The 
yields of maize hybrids varied between 11400 
and 16300 kg ha-1 in 2013 depending upon the 
Months March April May June July August September Total/ Average
Precipitation (mm) 30-
year average (1961-1990) 33.5 42.4 58.8 79.5 65.7 60.7 38.0 379.2
Precipitation (mm) 136.3 48.0 68.7 30.8 15.6 32.2 47.6 378.6
Difference (mm) 102.8 5.6 9.9 -48.7 -50.1 -28.5 9.6 0.6
Temperature (oC) 30-
year average 5.0 10.7 15.8 18.7 20.3 19.6 15.8 15.1
Monthly average 
temperature (oC) 2.9 12.0 16.6 19.6 21.2 21.5 14.0 15.4
Difference (oC) -2.1 1.3 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.9 -1.8 0.3
Table 1. The meteorological data in the maize vegetation period (Debrecen, 2013 and 30-year average 1961-1990)
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hybrid and the plant density. The higher plant 
density demand and plant density response 
of modern maize hybrids were proved by our 
experimental results. In our study, the lowest 
yield was obtained at the plant density of 50 
thousand plants ha-1. In 2013, the optimum plant 
densities of hybrids were 70 thousand plants ha-1 
and 90 thousand plants ha-1. Maximum yield was 
achieved at a plant density of 70 thousand plants 
ha-1 for the hybrids Sarolta, P9578, DKC 4014, 
P 9175 and P 9494 and at 90 thousand plants 
ha-1 in the case of DKC 4025, NK Lucius, PR 
37M81, PR 37N01, DKC 4490 and SY Afinity. 
However, the results also proved that there was 
no significant yield increment in most hybrids 
when the plant density was increased from 70 
thousand plants ha-1 to 90 thousand plants ha-1.
Based on our experimental results, the effect of 
plant density on the yield of maize hybrids was 
evaluated as an average of the hybrids and also 
for the minimum and maximum values (Table 3). 
As an average of the hybrids, no difference was 
found in the yield between the different plant 
densities. The yields of the hybrids were 13130 
kg ha-1 at 50 thousand plants ha-1, 13824 kg ha-1 
at 70 thousand plants ha-1 and 13877 kg ha-1 at 
90 thousand plants ha-1. It is very important to 
evaluate the minimum and maximum values at 
the different plant densities and the difference 
between the two values (Table 3). There were no 
significant differences in the yield for any of the 
plant densities neither in the minimum (11388 
kg ha-1, 11682 kg ha-1 11826 kg ha-1), nor in the 
maximum (15859 kg ha-1, 15948 kg ha-1, 16296 
Hybrids
(the factor A)
Grain yield (kg ha-1)
AveragePlant density (thousand plants ha-1) (the factor B)
50000 plants ha-1 70000 plants ha-1 90000 plants ha-1
Sarolta (290) 11878 11997 11826 11900
P 9578 (320) 12463 15046 13826 13778
DKC 4014 (320) 12247 13770 12832 12950
DKC 4025 (330) 11908 12637 13748 12764
P 9175 (330) 15859 15948 15219 15675
NK Lucius (330) 13377 12935 13751 13354
PR 37M81 (360) 12991 12483 13182 12885
PR 37N01 (380) 13765 15421 16296 15161
DKC 4490 (380) 11882 12802 13214 12633
P 9494 (390) 15116 15619 14300 15012
Kenéz (410) 11388 11862 12387 11879
SY Afinity (470) 14682 15372 15946 15333
Average 13130 13824 13877 13610
LSD5% (A) 459 kg ha-1
LSD5% (B) 687 kg ha-1
LSD5% (A*B) 1190 kg ha-1
Table 2. Effect of plant density on maize hybrids yield (Debrecen, chernozem soil, 2013)
Plant density
50 thousand ha-1 70 thousand ha-1 90 thousand ha-1
a) Yield average of hybrids (kg ha-1) 13130 13824 13877
b) Minimum yield (kg ha-1) 11388 11862 11826
c) Maximum yield (kg ha-1) 15859 15948 16296
d) Differences of minimum and 
maximum yield (kg ha-1) 4471 4086 4470
Table 3. Parameters of the plant density response of maize hybrids (Debrecen, chernozem soil, 2013)
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kg ha-1), or in the difference interval (4471 kg 
ha-1, 4086 kg ha-1, 4470 kg ha-1). This means that 
the evaluation of the hybrids’ average obscures 
the real differences in the plant density response 
between the different genotypes. According to 
our study, the optimum plant density of the late 
200 FAO and the early 300 FAO hybrids Sarolta 
and P 9578 was 70 thousand plants ha-1, while 
the 400 FAO hybrids Kenéz and SY Afinity gave 
the maximum yield at 90 thousand plants ha-1.
The tested hybrids differed in their yield in the 
different plant density treatments. In 2013, the 
hybrids with the highest yield were as follows:
• At 50 thousand plants ha-1: P 9175 (15.9 t ha-1), 
P 9494 (15.1 t ha-1), SY Afinity (14.7 t ha-1);
• At 70 thousand plants ha-1: P 9175 (15.9 t ha-1), 
P 9494 (15.6 t ha-1), P 37N01 (15.4 t ha-1), 
SY Afinity (15.4 t ha-1), P 9578 (15.0 t ha-1);
• At 90 thousand plants ha-1: PR 37N01 (16.3 t 
ha-1), SY Afinity (15.9 t ha-1), P 9175 (15.2 t ha-1).
The classification of the hybrids proved that there 
were hybrids which could tolerate the extreme 
changes in the plant density (20 thousand plants 
ha-1 lower and higher than the anticipated average 
70 thousand plants ha-1) with a very moderate 
yield fluctuation. These hybrids can be of special 
value in the production technology as their 
favourable adaptation ability to the different 
plant densities is asserted at a high yield level. 
In our study, such hybrids were P 9175, P 9494 
and SY Afinity. However, some genotypes were 
very sensitive to the plant densities lower or 
higher than the average (70 thousand plants 
ha-1), consequently, these hybrids require a very 
precise sowing and production technology (P 
9578, DKC 4490, PR 37N01).
Based on our experimental results, we have 
developed a special, complex method, which 
can be used well for determining the actual yield 
of the hybrids (under the given ecological and 
agrotechnical conditions) and the plant density 
response of the maize genotypes (Figure 1). 
The experimental data were plotted in such a 
coordinate system in which the yields obtained 
at the basic plant density (50 thousand plants 
ha-1) were presented at the horizontal (abscissa) 
axis, while the yields obtained at the optimum 
plant density (70 thousand plants ha-1 and 90 
Figure 1. The plant density response of maize hybrids in a special coordinate system 
(Debrecen, chernozem soil, 2013)
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Columella - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Vol. 1, No. 2 (2014)
thousand plants ha-1 depending upon the hybrids) 
were plotted against the vertical (ordinate) axis. 
Those hybrids can be regarded favourable which 
give a high yield at the different plant densities. 
These hybrids are located in the top right part 
of the coordinate system (P 9175, PR 37N01, P 
9494, SY Afinity). Those hybrids which are less 
favourable based on their actual yield and plant 
density response can be found in bottom left 
part of the coordinate system (Sarolta, Kenéz).
Discussion
The plant density response of 12 maize hybrids 
of different genotypes was studied on chernozem 
soil under favourable agrotechnical conditions in 
2013. The chernozem soil of excellent water and 
nutrient management and the significant amount 
of precipitation in the spring could compensate 
for the dry and hot weather in July and August. 
Accordingly, very favourable yields were obtained 
(11400-16300 kg ha-1) in 2013 depending upon the 
hybrid and the plant density. Significant differences 
were found between the hybrids in the maximum 
yields and optimum plant densities. In 2013, the 
optimum plant densities were 70 thousand plants 
ha-1 and 90 thousand plants ha-1 for the tested 
hybrids. However, the results showed that the 
increase of plant density from 70 thousand plants 
ha-1 to 90 thousand plants ha-1 resulted only in a 
minimal yield increment (412-1111 kg ha-1) but it 
could considerably increase the risk of production 
under such ecological and agrotechnical conditions 
which are inferior to the optimal. In the experiments 
of Dawadi and Sah (2012), Mohseni (2013) and 
Roekel and Coulter (2011), the maximum yields 
were obtained at similar plant densities (60-80 
thousand plants ha-1), though under different 
ecological and agrotechnical conditions. The 
optimum plant density was higher (90 thousand 
plants ha-1) in the experiments of Widdicombe and 
Thelen (2002), Gozübenli et al. (2004) and Lashkari 
et al. (2011). The evaluation of the hybrids’ yields 
at different plant densities proved that the hybrids 
responded with a different yield fluctuation to the 
changes in the plant density. Those hybrids were 
the most favourable which gave a stable, high 
yield at different plant densities. Such hybrids 
were P 9175, P 9494 and SY Afinity. As opposed 
to these, there were hybrids (P 9578, DKC 4490, 
PR 37N01), which showed a great fluctuation of 
yield between the different plant density treatments. 
A special complex evaluation method has been 
developed for determining the potential yield 
and plant density response of maize hybrids.
References
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yield components in maize. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences. 3. (2) 203-206.  
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Hoshang, R. (2012): Effect of plant density and nitrogen rates on morphological characteristic grain maize. Journal 
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Plant density impact on grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids on chernozem soil of the Eastern Hungary

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Plant density impact on grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids on chernozem soil of the Eastern Hungary

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