YIELD OF GREEN MASS OF CORN HYBRIDS DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION OF MACRO- AND MICROFERTILIZERS IN THE MILKY-WAXY RIPENESS STAGE OF THE GRAIN

Growing corn for green mass requires a deep understanding of how plant genetics, climatic conditions, and targeted nutrition systems interact to maximize biomass production. To optimize these agricultural practices, a comprehensive field study was conducted spanning the years 2021 to 2023. The primary objective was to evaluate the impact of varying rates of mineral macrofertilizers and specific microfertilizer application schemes on the green mass yield of mid-early (Amaros, Bogatyr) and mid-season (KWS 381, Carifols) corn hybrids across three critical developmental phases: the milk, waxy, and milky-waxy ripeness stages. The experimental design incorporated unfertilized control plots alongside variants treated with N90P60K60 and N120P90K90 macrofertilizer doses. Additionally, the study assessed two micro-nutrition strategies: a combination of YaraVita Teprosyn NP+Zn seed treatment with YaraVita Maize Boost foliar spraying, and a combination of YaraTera Tenso Cocktail seed treatment with YaraVita Kombiphos foliar spraying. The three-year data revealed that hydrothermal conditions significantly dictate the baseline potential for biomass accumulation. The 2021 growing season was characterized by stressful weather patterns, resulting in the lowest overall yields across all control variants. In contrast, the optimal climatic conditions of 2022 facilitated peak physiological performance, allowing the crops to achieve the highest productivity metrics recorded in the study, while 2023 demonstrated intermediate outcomes. Genotypic evaluation indicated that the mid-season hybrids, particularly Carifols and KWS 381, consistently outperformed the mid-early group in green mass accumulation, irrespective of the harvesting phase or weather conditions. Mineral nutrition emerged as the most critical manageable factor driving yield increases. The application of N120P90K90 provided the most substantial gains in green mass for all studied hybrids. Furthermore, integrating microfertilizer treatments delivered a consistent, supplementary yield enhancement across all backgrounds of mineral nutrition, with both studied schemes showing high agronomic efficacy. When comparing the developmental stages at harvest, the absolute maximum accumulation of green mass occurred during the milky-waxy ripeness stage. The highest overall yield recorded during the experiment was 57.5 tons per hectare. This peak was achieved in the highly favorable 2022 season by the mid-season Carifols hybrid at the milky-waxy stage, cultivated under the maximum N120P90K90 macrofertilizer dose and supplemented with the YaraTera Tenso Cocktail and YaraVita Kombiphos microfertilizer treatment. The findings emphasize that while the specific hydrothermal conditions of a given year heavily modulate overall crop productivity, the maximum realization of modern corn hybrids' genetic potential relies heavily on a balanced, intensive approach combining optimal macrofertilizer rates with targeted micro-nutrition regimens and precise harvest timing.