Abstract
Competition is a common phenomenon in agriculture production. Research on the relationship between competitive ability and crop yield is extensive, but the results have been inconsistent. Few studies have focused on the relationship between population competitive intensity and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars. The main objective of this study was to determine if a consistent relationship exists between maize yield and competitive ability. A two-year field experiment was conducted, employing a de Wit replacement series design. When two maize cultivars were grown in a mixture, yield was reduced for the modern cultivar and increased for the older cultivar. In each replacement series, per plant level yield of each cultivar, and population level yield of the mixture, decreased with increasing proportion of the older cultivar. Competitive ratio (CR) reflected differences in competitive ability of the three maize cultivars. In each replacement series, population competition pressure (PCP) increased with increasing proportion of the older cultivar, indicating that the older cultivar was a strong competitor. Biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, thousand-kernel weight, and kernel number per plant, were negatively correlated with PCP. Our results demonstrated that inter-cultivar competition affects maize productivity, and increasing PCP will decrease translocation of assimilates to grain and, ultimately, reduce yield. Therefore, there is a negative correlation between population competitive intensity and yield performance in maize, breeders should develop a communal ideotype that would not perform well in competition in future.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc-nd. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 15
Claim · model-written summary
In mixtures, modern cultivar yield decreased.
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“When two maize cultivars were grown in a mixture, yield was reduced for the modern cultivar”
Claim · model-written summary
In mixtures, older cultivar yield increased.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased for the older cultivar”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Per-plant cultivar yield fell as the older cultivar proportion increased.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“per plant level yield of each cultivar, and population level yield of the mixture, decreased with increasing proportion of the older cultivar”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Mixture population yield fell as the older cultivar proportion increased.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“population level yield of the mixture, decreased with increasing proportion of the older cultivar”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Competitive ratio reflected competitive ability differences among three maize cultivars.
- Outcome
- differences in competitive abilitye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Competitive ratio (CR) reflected differences in competitive ability of the three maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Population competition pressure rose with the older cultivar proportion.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“population competition pressure (PCP) increased with increasing proportion of the older cultivar”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Biomass yield was negatively correlated with population competition pressure.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, thousand-kernel weight, and kernel number per plant, were negatively correlated with PCP”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Grain yield was negatively correlated with population competition pressure.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, thousand-kernel weight, and kernel number per plant, were negatively correlated with PCP”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Harvest index was negatively correlated with population competition pressure.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, thousand-kernel weight, and kernel number per plant, were negatively correlated with PCP”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Thousand-kernel weight was negatively correlated with population competition pressure.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, thousand-kernel weight, and kernel number per plant, were negatively correlated with PCP”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Kernel number per plant was negatively correlated with population competition pressure.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, thousand-kernel weight, and kernel number per plant, were negatively correlated with PCP”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Inter-cultivar competition affects maize productivity.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“inter-cultivar competition affects maize productivity”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing population competition pressure decreases translocation of assimilates to grain.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increasing PCP will decrease translocation of assimilates to grain”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing population competition pressure ultimately reduces yield.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increasing PCP will decrease translocation of assimilates to grain and, ultimately, reduce yield”
t0“maize cultivars”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend breeding a communal ideotype that performs poorly in competition.
- Outcome
- develop a communal ideotype that would not perform well in competitione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“breeders should develop a communal ideotype that would not perform well in competition in future”
t0“maize cultivars”