Maize silage production on high ridges in lowland soil

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the silage maize production and quality under lowland soil in different soil tillage systems. During the 2002/03 and 2003/04 growing seasons, two experiments in a randomized blocks experimental design with four repetitions were conducted. Three preparations of soil were used: (i) soil tillage in high ridges without the use of irrigation (C-NI), (ii) soil preparing in high ridges and use of furrow irrigation (CI), (iii) conventional soil tillage (without high ridges) and without the use of irrigation (SI). It was observed that the use of high ridges, with or without irrigation, increases the leaf area index of maize plants. The content of raw fiber was 17.2, 19.11 and 17.89% for maize plants grown in CI, C-NI and SI, respectively.