Production of corn and forage soybeans for silage and partial marketing of the baby corn or ear’s crop.

Authors

  • Carlos Jiménez Universidad de Costa Rica, Escuela de Zootecnia
  • Luis Pineda Universidad de Costa Rica, Escuela de Zootecnia
  • Bernardo León Universidad de Costa Rica, Ing. Agrónomo Zootecnista del Programa de Licenciatura Escuela de Zootecnia
  • Alejandro Montenegro Universidad de Costa Rica, Ing. Agrónomo Zootecnista del Programa de Licenciatura Escuela de Zootecnia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15517/am.v13i1.13245

Abstract

The
effect of three different planting methods for soy and corn
was evaluated: a) every other row, b) four rows of each and
c) mono-culture and three harvesting methods of the
marketable crop: a) removal of 50% of baby corn (blooming
onset), b) removal of 50% of corn ears (milk stage) and c) no
harvest. Each treatment had three replications. The corn
variety was HS-5G (Cristiani Burkard) and that of soybean
was CIGRAS 10, a variety for grain and forage developed by
the Centro de Investigación en Granos y Semillas de la
Universidad de Costa Rica and successfully grown in the Dry
Pacific Region of Costa Rica. Harvesting for silage was
performed at the phenological stages of pre-indentation for
corn and R6 for soybean (formed seed in dough stage).
Harvesting 50 % of baby corn resulted in $164.06 of gross
income, covering 44.23 % of total expenses for planting,
growing, harvesting and ensiling in a clamp silo. However, a
decrease from 5.99 to 4.77 tDM/ha was observed,
representing a 20.3 % reduction. Ears harvest also reduced
yield by 24.4 %, but allowed for an 89.45 % recover of the
expenses, equivalent to $331.75 of gross income. Removal of
the ears is well justified, since it recovers almost all of the
costs; although there is a reduction in yield and most certainly
in digestible dry matter. If weather conditions had been more
favourable, a higher gross income could have been obtained,
with money surplus and a free crop of silage.

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How to Cite

Jiménez, C., Pineda, L., León, B., & Montenegro, A. (2006). Production of corn and forage soybeans for silage and partial marketing of the baby corn or ear’s crop. Agronomía Mesoamericana, 13(1), 45–48. https://doi.org/10.15517/am.v13i1.13245