Muchow, R C (1989) Comparative productivity of maize, sorghum and pearl millet in a semi-arid tropical environment I. Yield potential. Field Crops Research, 20 (3). pp. 191-205.
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Abstract
The comparative productivity of high-yielding F1-hybrids of maize, sorghum and pearl millet grown under fully irrigated and high-fertility conditions was examined at three sowing dates in semi-arid tropical Australia. The study was undertaken to determine the yield potential of these species, to allow assessment of yield limitations due to environmental and management factors, and to evaluate the possibility for yield improvement for cereals in the semi-arid tropics. Variation in yield was analysed in terms of the amount of incident radiation intercepted by the crops, its efficiency of use in dry-matter production, and the proportion of dry-matter partitioned to grain. The varying radiation and temperature regimes across sowing dates affected biomass at maturity in maize and millet, but not in sorghum. Variation in biomass across sowing dates was associated more with differences in the amount of radiation intercepted than in radiation-use efficiency. In contrast, grain-yield was relatively stable across sowing dates in maize, but it varied with sowing date in sorghum and millet. Here, differences in grain-yield were related more to variation in harvest index. Overall, variation in grain-yield across sowing dates within species was small relative to that among species. Average grain-yields over the three sowing dates were 9.2 t ha−1 for maize, 5.6 t ha−1 for sorghum and 2.9 t ha−1 for millet. High yield was associated with high biomass production both at maturity and during grain-filling, high harvest index, and an increase in stover weight during grain-filling. High biomass-accumulation was associated with long growth-duration, especially the duration of grain-filling and thus high cumulative radiation interception, and with high radiation-use efficiency.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | I thank M.F.Spillman and G.E.Routley for theri competent technical assistance, R. Davis for design and construction of the dat-logging system for radiation interception measurement, and K.M.Cellier for statistical advice on data analysis. |
| Author Affiliation: | CSIRO, Cunningham Laboratory, 306 Carmody Road, St. Lucia, Qld 4067 (Australia) |
| Subjects: | Plant Production |
| Divisions: | Maize Millet Sorghum |
| Depositing User: | Mr Siva Shankar |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Apr 2012 05:09 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Apr 2012 05:09 |
| Official URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-4290(89)90079-8 |
| URI: | http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/4905 |
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