CONSEQUENCES OF THE DELAY IN THE SEASON OF SOWING AND SILAGE ON AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MAIZE

The objective of this work was to verify the effect of the delay in sowing and cutting seasons for silage on agronomic characteristics of maize cultivars. Nine cultivars of maize were evaluated in four experiments installed in two distinct seasons in the agricultural year 99/00, in the experimental area of the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA-MG). In each season, two experiments were conducted. In one of them, the plants were cut off when milk line laid on half of the grain and in the other experiment the harvest was accomplished when grains reached physiological maturity. The following characteristics were evaluated plant height, dry matter and grain yield, percentage of ears in the dry matter, and percentage of leaves and stem in the dry matter. Variability was verified for most of the characteristics, pointing out the importance of an adequate choice of cultivars for silage production. The presence of interaction cultivars x sowing seasons and cultivars x cutting seasons for the most of the characteristics highlights the importance of cultivar selection in function of the sowing season and cutting season of the plants. In general, the cultivars AG 1051, C 435, and AG 4051 were the ones that stood out for silage production. Most of the evaluated characteristics were influenced by sowing season and cutting season. The delay in sowing reduced the production of dry matter of silage significantly and the inverse happened with delaying the cutting season, with larger productivity in the crop accomplished in the physiologic maturity of the grains.