Summary

Maize is a widely known plant, used for many purposes. From the eight widely known corn varieties only Zea corn has an economic importance. Seeds of F1 generation are commonly used as maize sowing material. Maize is a thermophilic and photophilic plant. It grows the most intensively under conditions of good exposure to sunlight. Despite its well-developed root system, maize needs a huge amount of water during the vegetation period. It can be cultivated on soils with pH 5-7.5, but the best yields are obtained on neutral soils. The first agricultural operation required for corn production is pre-winter ploughing. An accurate dose of mineral and organic fertilizers should be applied to ensure the proper growth. In order to obtain high yields, corn has to be protected against pests by using herbicides, repellents, fungicides and insecticides. The most common maize diseases are: Pseudomonas andropogoni and Ustilago maydis.Maize can be grown in a bed after cereal crops, but only a few years after the last organic fertilization. On poor soils maize should be preceded by better forecrops, e.g. root crops, legumes and the mixtures of papilionaceous species and grasses.

Maize requires 29 kg N, 13 kg P₂O₅, 33 kg K₂O, 8 kg CaO and 9 kg MgO on the average to produce 1 tonne of grain. The dynamics of nutrient demand depends on the stage of development. Maize should be sown when the temperature of the soil reaches 8-10^oC at the depth of 6-8 cm. The advised density of plants should be about 9 plants/m². For early sowing and heavy soils the depth of sowing should be 4-5 cm, and in case of later sowing on lighter soils seeds should be put at the depth of 7-8 cm. Corn harvested for silage (whole-crop) is ready when the water content in the cob reaches 45-50%. Maize planted for grains or for cobs silaging (CCM) can be harvested when the moisture content does not exceed 40%.

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