Effect of planting patterns on grain moisture at physiological maturity stage in spring maize

The high moisture content in maize kernel during harvest mainly causes the high broken rate of grain, which is a key problem in maize harvest of China.Aim to understand the effects of planting patterns on the moisture contents of kernel at physiological maturity stage in Northeast China, we conducted a field trial with three planting patterns(UD: uniform row, single 65 cm row, row orientation of east-west; WN1:narrow-wide rows, 40 cm twin rows spaced 90 cm between paired-rows, row orientation of 20° south by west; WN2:narrow-wide rows, 40 cm twin rows spaced 160 cm between paired-rows, row orientation of 20° south by west), and analyzed the moisture contents of kernel, leaf, stem and husk as well as the contents of protein, starch and oil in grain at physiological maturity stage.The results showed that the kernel moisture in WN1 and WN2 was 2.1%~2.9% significantly lower than that in UD at physiological maturity stage.And there were strong positive relationships between the moisture content of kernel and stem, leaves and husk.The grain protein content of WN2 was significant lower than that of UD, while the grain starch content of UD was significant lower than that of other two patterns.