Effect of Different Soil Tillages on Yield and Quality for Maize Crop

Marius Bordei¹, Elena Partal¹, George Cizmaş¹, Florin Gabriel Anton¹, 
Emil Georgescu¹, Lavinia Udrea²

¹National Agricultural Research-Development Institute Fundulea
²Valahia University of Târgovişte

Keywords: maize, soil tillages, yield, quality, soil moisture.

Abstract: The relationship between crop and technological measures is very important for establishing the most efficient management strategies aimed at increasing yield, improving production quality and effects of three of tillage systems: conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT) and no-till (NT) on corn yield, quality and soil moisture over two years (2023-2024) on a chernozem soil at NARDI Fundulea, Romania. Soil moisture determinations were an integral part of the climatic characterization of the agricultural year and provided annual reference data. In 2023, very low soil moisture values ​​were recorded, differing depending on the tillage system, which led to a minimum value of only 16.0% (400 m³ ha^-1) for the CT system with spring plowing, a maximum of 19% (540 m³ ha^-1) in the NT system and intermediate values ​​in the MT system with 16% (504 m³ ha^-1) for the chisel variant. Statistical analyses showed significant effects of all tillage methods on corn yield and quality and their interactions with other technological links. The average results over two years showed that the highest yields were recorded for MT (4.9 t ha^-1), while the averages for CT and NT were lower (4.2 t ha^-1 and, respectively, 2.8 t ha^-1). The implementation of technological links, associated with a possible climate forecast, will increase the chances of the corn crop in Romania to successfully overcome the vegetation period with deficiencies and provide high and stable yields.