Abstract
Increasing planting density is an important practice associated with increases in maize yield, but densely planted maize can suffer from poor light conditions. In our two-year field experiments, two morphologically different cultivars, ZD958 (less compact) and DH618 (more compact), were planted at 120,000 plants ha−1 and 135,000 plants ha−1, respectively. We established different leaf area index (LAI) treatments by removing leaves three days after silking: (1) control, no leaves removed (D0); (2) the two uppermost leaves removed (D1); (3) the four uppermost leaves removed (D2); (4) the leaves below the third leaf below the ear removed (D3); (5) the leaves of D1 and D3 removed (D4); (6) the leaves of D2 and D3 removed (D5). Optimal leaf removal improved light distribution, increased photosynthetic capacity and the post-silking source-sink ratio, and thus the grain yield, with an average LAI of 5.9 (5.6 and 6.2 for ZD958 and DH618, respectively) for the highest yields in each year. Therefore, less-compact cultivars should have smaller or fewer topmost leaves or leaves below the ear that quickly senesce post-silking, so as to decrease leaf area and thus improve light distribution and photosynthetic capacity in the canopy under dense planting conditions. However, for more compact cultivars, leaves below the ear should senesce quickly after silking to reduce leaf respiration and improve the photosynthetic capacity of the remaining top residual leaves. In future maize cultivation, compact cultivars with optimal post-silking LAI should be adopted when planting densely.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Optimal leaf removal improved light distribution in the maize canopy under dense planting.
- Treatment
- Optimal leaf removale2
- Outcome
- light distributione2
- Direction
- improvede2
- Setting
- two-year field experimentse0
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e2“Optimal leaf removal improved light distribution, increased photosynthetic capacity and the post-silking source-sink ratio, and thus the grain yield”
e0“In our two-year field experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Optimal leaf removal increased photosynthetic capacity of maize.
- Treatment
- Optimal leaf removale2
- Outcome
- photosynthetic capacitye2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Setting
- two-year field experimentse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e2“Optimal leaf removal improved light distribution, increased photosynthetic capacity and the post-silking source-sink ratio, and thus the grain yield”
e0“In our two-year field experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Optimal leaf removal increased the post-silking source-sink ratio of maize.
- Treatment
- Optimal leaf removale2
- Outcome
- post-silking source-sink ratioe2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Setting
- two-year field experimentse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e2“Optimal leaf removal improved light distribution, increased photosynthetic capacity and the post-silking source-sink ratio, and thus the grain yield”
e0“In our two-year field experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Optimal leaf removal increased the grain yield of maize.
- Treatment
- Optimal leaf removale2
- Outcome
- grain yielde2
- Direction
- increaseinferrede2
- Setting
- two-year field experimentse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e2“Optimal leaf removal improved light distribution, increased photosynthetic capacity and the post-silking source-sink ratio, and thus the grain yield”
e0“In our two-year field experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
The highest maize yields occurred at an average post-silking LAI of 5.9 (5.6 and 6.2 for ZD958 and DH618).
- Material
- ZD958 and DH618e3
- Outcome
- highest yieldse3
- Value
- an average LAI of 5.9e3
- Setting
- two-year field experimentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e3“with an average LAI of 5.9 (5.6 and 6.2 for ZD958 and DH618, respectively) for the highest yields in each year”
e0“In our two-year field experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Less-compact maize cultivars should have smaller or fewer topmost leaves that senesce quickly after silking.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e4“Therefore, less-compact cultivars should have smaller or fewer topmost leaves or leaves below the ear that quickly senesce post-silking”
Claim · model-written summary
More-compact maize cultivars should have leaves below the ear that senesce quickly after silking.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e5“for more compact cultivars, leaves below the ear should senesce quickly after silking”
Claim · model-written summary
Compact maize cultivars with optimal post-silking LAI should be adopted when planting densely.
- Outcome
- compact cultivars with optimal post-silking LAI should be adopted when planting denselye6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“increases in maize yield”
e6“compact cultivars with optimal post-silking LAI should be adopted when planting densely”
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