During 2015, four corn research trials were conducted in dryland and irrigated environments. Two trials were at Scandia, KS and two were in Topeka, KS. The objective of these trials was to study the contribution of different farming management approaches for developing efficient and high-yielding corn production systems. Treatment layout consisted of five combinations: common practices (CP), comprehensive fertilization (CF), production intensity (PI), ecological intensification (CF + PI), and advanced plus (AD). Under dryland and irrigation scenarios, EI and AD treatments presented the highest yields relative to the other combinations. Under irrigation, absolute yield gap was larger in both locations as compared to the dryland scenario. The EI and AP treatments produced better yields than all other treatments at all sites and water conditions

Balboa, G. R.

Ciampitti, I. A.

English

Kansas State University

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports Volume 2 Issue 5 Kansas Field Research Article 13 January 2016 Breaking Corn Yield Barriers: A Cropping Systems Approach G. R. Balboa Kansas State University, balboa@ksu.edu I. A. Ciampitti Kansas State University, ciampitti@ksu.edu This report is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. Copyright January 2016 Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service. Contents of this publication may be freely reproduced for educational purposes. All other rights reserved. Brand names appearing in this publication are for product identification purposes only. No endorsement is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products not mentioned. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/kaesrr  Part of the Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Balboa, G. R. and Ciampitti, I. A. (2016) "Breaking Corn Yield Barriers: A Cropping Systems Approach," Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports: Vol. 2: Iss. 5. https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5977.1230 Breaking Corn Yield Barriers: A Cropping Systems Approach Abstract During 2015, four corn research trials were conducted in dryland and irrigated environments. Two trials were at Scandia, KS and two were in Topeka, KS. The objective of these trials was to study the contribution of different farming management approaches for developing efficient and high-yielding corn production systems. Treatment layout consisted of five combinations: common practices (CP), comprehensive fertilization (CF), production intensity (PI), ecological intensification (CF + PI), and advanced plus (AD). Under dryland and irrigation scenarios, EI and AD treatments presented the highest yields relative to the other combinations. Under irrigation, absolute yield gap was larger in both locations as compared to the dryland scenario. The EI and AP treatments produced better yields than all other treatments at all sites and water conditions. Keywords corn, yield gaps, cropping system Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. This department of agronomy is available in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports: https://newprairiepress.org/kaesrr/vol2/iss5/13 Kansas Field Research 2016Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service1Breaking Corn Yield Barriers:  A Cropping Systems ApproachG.R. Balboa and I.A. CiampittiSummaryDuring 2015, four corn research trials were conducted in dryland and irrigated environ-ments. Two trials were at Scandia, KS and two were in Topeka, KS. The objective of these trials was to study the contribution of different farming management approaches for developing efficient and high-yielding corn production systems. Treatment layout consisted of five combinations: common practices (CP), comprehensive fertilization (CF), production intensity (PI), ecological intensification (CF + PI), and advanced plus (AD). Under dryland and irrigation scenarios, EI and AD treatments presented the highest yields relative to the other combinations. Under irrigation, absolute yield gap was larger in both locations as compared to the dryland scenario. The EI and AP treat-ments produced better yields than all other treatments at all sites and water conditions. IntroductionGaps between potential and actual on-farm yields are primarily defined by crop man-agement practices (such as row spacing, planting date, and fungicide and nutrient application) and their interactions with the environment (weather). Thus, after consid-ering genetics and the environment, on-farm yield is primarily influenced by farmers’ decisions, the main components of which are agronomic practices. Crop management practices are often specific to the environment, hybrid/variety, and/or yield level. Row spacing, plant population, nutrient management, and other agronomic practices can modify yields. Selecting appropriate management practices can help farmers increase yields and close yield gaps. Increasing plant population under irrigated conditions is a common intensification practice in high-yielding corn systems.ProceduresFour corn research trials were conducted; at each of their respective locations one of the experiments was conducted in dryland condition and the other under irrigation. Two trials were conducted at the Scandia Unit of the North Central Kansas (NCK) Experiment Field, and two at Kansas River Valley (KRV) Experimental Field. Corn was planted on April 24 (Scandia) and April 22 (Topeka) during the 2015 growing season. Treatment layout presented five combinations with five replications in a completely randomized block design: (1) common practices (CP), common farming practices (30,000 seeds/a + no nutrient application (P-K) + 30-in. row spacing); (2) comprehen-sive fertilization (CF), or balancing nutrients (30,000 seeds/a + nutrient application + 30-in. row spacing); (3) production intensity (PI), increasing productivity via narrow-ing rows and increasing plant population (38,000 seeds/a + no nutrient application + Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service2Kansas Field Research 201615-in. row spacing); (4) ecological intensification (CF + PI; 38,000 seeds/a + nutrient application + 15-in. row spacing); and (5) advanced plus (AD), or increasing input ap-plications (38,000 seeds/a + nutrient application + 15-in. row spacing). ResultsWeather ConditionsWeather conditions for the growing season and historical values are shown in Figures 1 and 2 for NCK Scandia and KRV Topeka, respectively. The total amount of rain re-ceived during the growing season was 15 inches for Scandia and 16.3 inches for Topeka. The total amount of water provided to the irrigated condition at NCK Scandia was 7.5 inches (7/7, 7/15, 7/23, 8/5, 8/20, and 9/10) and 7.3 inches (06/23, 6/25, 07/02, 07/06, 07/23, 08/01, 08/16, 08/17, 08/24 and 09/03) at KRV Topeka. Temperatures ranged in normal values for the crop registering 6 and 8 days over 95°F (stress) for Scan-dia and Topeka, respectively during the growing season. Half of those days occurred during the critical period for corn. Soil Test and Phenological Information Soil samples were collected before planting to characterize each site. Results of soil tests are shown in Table 2. At the Scandia site, organic matter content was higher but low P values were documented as compared to the Topeka site. The variety planted, the date for phenological stages, and the harvest date are shown in Table 3. Total number of days from emergence to physiological maturity was 136 and 135 for Scandia and Topeka, respectively. Treatments CP and EI for irrigated condition at Scandia location are shown in Figure 5.Stand CountsAfter emergence, stand count for all the treatments was determined. Table 3 portrays the final number of plants emerged per acre for each of the treatments at all sites. Statis-tical differences in stand counts were detected between treatments CP-CF and PI, EI, and AD. NCK Scandia, KS, Corn YieldsThe average yield for dryland condition at NCK Scandia was 202 bu/a, while in overall the irrigated site yielded 219 bu/a (Figure 3). Maximum yield for dryland condition was 214 bu/a for the EI treatment but without presenting statistical differences rela-tive to the other treatments. The CP treatment was the farming system resulting in the minimum yield (192 bu/a). In absolute terms, the yield gap in dryland was 22 bu/a (EI = 214 bu/a minus CP = 192 bu/acre). Under irrigation, in absolute terms, maximum yield gap was 33 bu/a (CF = 237 bu/a minus PI = 204 bu/a). KRV Topeka, KS, Corn YieldsThe mean overall yield for dryland was 195 bu/a and for irrigated was 199 bu/a. In dryland, the maximum yield was 215 bu/a for AD and the minimum was 180 bu/a for CF, but without presenting statistical differences (p > 0.05). In the irrigated condition EI presented maximum yield, 210 bu/a, while CP showed the minimum yield with 191 bu/a, all without documenting a statistical difference among treatments evaluated.Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service3Kansas Field Research 2016Table 1. Soil characterization before planting timeCorn studies OM% pH P (ppm)NCK, Scandia irrigated 2.6 6.2 14.0NCK, Scandia dryland 3.1 6.4 9.2KRV, Topeka irrigated 1.6 7.3 23.8KRV, Topeka dryland 2.0 6.8 40.1Table 2. Phenological data for the 2015 growing season for cornPhenological data NCK, Scandia KRV, TopekaCorn hybrid dkc64-69rib dkc64-69ribPlanting date 04/24/2015 04/22/2015Emergence date (VE) 05/05/2015 05/01/2015Flowering (R1) 07/17/2015 07/14/2015Maturity 09/07/2015 09/04/2015Harvest time 09/15/2015 10/15/2015Table 3. Stand counts determined after emergence at all sites during the 2015 growing season Stand Count (plants per acre)NCK, Scandia KRV, TopekaTreatment Dryland Irrigated Dryland IrrigatedCP 23,746 b 29,770 b 17,971 b 23,298 bCF 23,049 b 30,218 b 19,564 b 21,625 bPI 28,973 a 38,133 a 27,977 a 36,640 aEI 28,177 a 37,436 a 36,739 a 35,943 aAD 27,281 a 37,237 a 32,856 a 36,839 aP value 0.0001 0.0001 0.025 0.0001Different letters in each column indicates statistical difference among treatments (p<0.05). CP = common prac-tices, CF = comprehensive fertilization, PI = production intensification, EI = ecological intensification (CF + PI), and AD = advanced plus.Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service4Kansas Field Research 2016Figure 1. (a) Daily maximum (red lines) and minimum (blue line) temperatures for the 2015 growing season and historical. (b) Daily solar radiation (blue line) for 2015 and  historical. (c) Daily precipitation (blue bars) for 2015 and historical. NCK, Scandia.Figure 2. (a) Daily maximum (red lines) and minimum (blue line) temperatures for the 2015 growing season and historical. (b) Daily solar radiation (blue line) for 2015 and  historical. (c) Daily precipitation (blue bars) for 2015 and historical. KRV, Topeka.aca bcbKansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service5Kansas Field Research 20163002752502252001751501251007550250Grain yield, bu/aDrylandEIPICFCP AD EIPICFCP ADIrrigatedAAAA A abab a214197206192203224204237208221Figure 3. Corn grain yield by treatment for dryland and irrigated conditions during the 2015 growing season, NCK, Scandia. Different letter shows statistical differences (p < 0.05). CP = common practices, CF = comprehensive fertilization, PI = production  intensification, EI = ecological intensification (CF + PI), and AD = advanced plus.3002752502252001751501251007550250Grain yield, bu/aDrylandEIPICFCP AD EIPICFCP ADIrrigatedAAAA A aaaa a201197180186215 210194196191 203Figure 4. Corn grain yield by treatment for dryland and irrigated conditions during the 2015 growing season, KRV, Topeka. Different letter shows statistical differences (p < 0.05). CP = common practices, CF = comprehensive fertilization, PI = production  intensification, EI = ecological intensification (CF+PI), and AD = advanced plus. Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service6Kansas Field Research 2016Figure 5. Scandia irrigated condition, (a) common practice (CP), and (b) ecological  intensification (EI). 06-10-2015.ab

Breaking Corn Yield Barriers: A Cropping Systems Approach

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Breaking Corn Yield Barriers: A Cropping Systems Approach

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