ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Response of Two Cultivar Types of Maize
(Zea mays L.) Expressed in Protein Content
and Its Yield to Varied Soil Resources of N and Mg
and a Form of Nitrogen Fertilizer
Piotr Szulc1, Jan Bocianowski2, Andrzej Kruczek1, Grażyna Szymańska1,
Roman Roszkiewicz1
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1Department of Agronomy, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Dojazd 11, 60-632 Poznań, Poland
2Department of Mathematical and Statistical Methods, Poznań University of Life Sciences,
Wojska Polskiego 28, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2013;22(6):1845-1853
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The aim of our study was to assess protein content in grain and its yield for two types of hybrid maize
cultivars at varied soil resources of nitrogen as well as the form of nitrogen fertilizer. Field trials were conducted
in the years 2009-11 in the fields of the Teaching and Experimental Station in Swadzim that belong to the
Department of Agronomy at the Poznań University of Life Sciences. Protein content in maize grain was directly
proportional to air temperature while it was inversely proportional to total precipitation. The dose of nitrogen
as well as the type of nitrogen fertilizer has a significant effect on protein content and its yield. The stay-green
hybrid ES Paroli was characterized by a greater protein content in grain and yield of protein in comparison to
the traditional cultivar ES Palazzo. In each of the tested nitrogen fertilizers a higher yield of protein was recorded
for the stay-green hybrid in comparison to the traditional cultivar. For slow-release nitrogen fertilizers such
as ammonia sulfate and urea the advantage of the stay-green cultivar in terms of the yield of protein was significantly
greater than in the treatments in which slow-release nitrogen fertilizers were applied. Protein content
did not determine the yield of grain when no nitrogen fertilizer was applied. In experiment I the best effect on
the yield of grain was found for protein content in grain at the nitrogen dose of 150 kg N·ha-1; variation of the
independent trait, protein content, in 17.4% determined the yield of grain. In experiment II it was observed
that at all the applied nitrogen fertilizers protein content statistically significantly determined the yield of grain.
This dependence was best described by the regression equation for ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3).