Corn Breeding

Egypt in the World and in Our Country:
Corn is one of the few plants that has been cultivated for thousands of years. Its homeland is America and it is known that it spread all over the world from here. Corn grains and corn cob pieces found in rock shelters and caves during archaeological excavations in the state of New Mexico, USA, were found to be about 5000 years old. On the other hand, in the archaeological excavations carried out in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, in 1954, corn flower powders determined to be about 7000 years old were found at a depth of 50-60 m in the soil. Since wild corn has not been found so far, no definitive information has been obtained regarding the origin and history of maize, various theories have been produced on this subject and all of them are still discussed today. However, findings from all archaeological excavations show that the corn plant has a history of 8,000 to 10,000 years.
In the years when the new world was discovered, corn cultivation was carried out in many parts of the American continent. Horse tooth corn, hard corn, floury corn, sugar corn and gin corn were grown at that time as well. Especially, it was the most important plant used in the daily diet of indigenous people living in the high regions of Mexico, Central America and South America. The Aztecs, who lived in ancient times in the region where Mexico is now, worshiped many corn gods and offered even people as sacrifices to them in their rituals for greater efficiency. In the mythologies of the North and South American redskin, corn was seen as a gift from the gods. After the discovery of America, the Spanish and British settlers who settled in that region learned how to cultivate corn and the uses of corn from the red-skinned locals.
When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain in 1493 with the corn material he brought with him, corn was first brought to Europe from his homeland in the new world. A few years after its entry into Spain, it has found a place in large areas of Southeast Europe and North Africa, especially Portugal, France and Italy.
The Portuguese, a maritime nation, took corn to the west coast of Africa in the early 16th century, and later to India and China. From here it has spread to all of Asia. Corn plant spread easily all over the world very quickly, thanks to its high reproduction rate (producing about a thousand from one grain) and its high yield potential. It has replaced some existing plants in many regions it has entered. For example, after corn entered the African continent, it was replaced by big millet, one of the main crops.
The entry of Egypt into our country was through North Africa. The fact that this plant is named corn in our country is an indication that this plant entered through Egypt and Syria.
Since corn can be grown in tropical, subtropical and temperate climates, it is possible to cultivate more or less corn in almost all countries of the world. Today, maize can be grown anywhere in the world, with the exception of Antarctica. It can be grown in areas between 58o north and 40o south latitudes, starting from sea level up to 4000 m.
The yields obtained vary depending on the country and the cultivars grown. In addition to countries with an average grain yield of approximately 50-60 kg per decare, there are also countries where yields of 1 ton per decare or more can be obtained.
The yield differences between countries and between regions within the same country are due to climatic factors as well as the cultivation techniques applied during production and the varieties used in production.
Corn is the most cultivated grain crop in the world after wheat and paddy. Around the world, 70 million farmer families, about 80% of which are in developing countries, are engaged in corn agriculture. According to the 2004 data of FAO, it is the most cultivated plant after wheat and paddy in the world with its cultivation area of 147,145,702 hectares. When the total production is taken into consideration, according to the same data, it ranks first, with its production of 724.515.133 tons, ahead of wheat and paddy. In addition, it is the most productive plant among cereals with 492.4 kg per decare.
Since it can be used both in human nutrition, as animal feed and as a raw material in different branches of industry, it has easily found its place in the agricultural product pattern of many countries. Approximately 90% of the corn produced in the world is used in human nutrition and animal feed. 65-70% of this is consumed as animal feed and 20% is directly consumed by humans. The remaining 8-10% is used in industry.
Many products are obtained from corn in the industry. Hundreds of products, especially flour, oil, starch, sweeteners, can be counted in this context. Each part of the plant has a separate economic value.
In our country, the area allocated to the agriculture of corn, which ranks third among grains after wheat and barley agriculture, is 700,000 hectares according to FAO's 2004 figures, and our total production is 3,000,000 tons. Our yield per decare is 428.6 kg. These values of our country, when compared with the world cultivation and production figures, Turkey's corn farming in the world in terms of both production cultivation amount of 0.4% is seen as a luxury share.
Although corn can be grown in almost every region of our country, it is mostly concentrated in the Black Sea Region. This region, with 300.000-350.000 hectares of cultivation area, has approximately 60-65% of the total corn area of our country. However, the average yield in this region is 220-230 kg / da. Therefore, it can only meet 20% of our production. On the other hand, in our Mediterranean region, the average yield is around 700-800 kg / da. Although the cultivation areas in this region are 140.000 - 150.000 ha, they provide 45% of our total corn production. Our Marmara region, including the Thrace region, provides approximately 20% of our total corn production.
In the Thrace region, corn cultivation areas vary from year to year, while the total corn cultivation areas of Edirne, Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, Çanakkale (Gelibolu and Lapseki) and Istanbul (Çatalca and Silivri) provinces vary between 6,000-7,500 ha, while the total production is around 35,000-45,000 tons. . Dekara The average grain yield is 550 to 600 kg, which is above the world average and Turkey.
Corn produced in our country is consumed for different purposes. In addition to being used as animal feed, because of its use in industry for different purposes, our corn production is not sufficient for ourselves in some years and we are imported from abroad. According to the 2004 data of FAO, our country imported 1,049,744 tons of corn from abroad and paid 190,477,000 US dollars in return (FAO 2004). Again, according to the 2003 data of FAO, the amount of corn imported by our country in 2003 was 1.818.132 tons and 276.182.000 USD was paid in exchange. In recent years, a decrease in corn import has been striking. An increase of around 30% is observed in cultivation areas. If this increase trend in cultivation areas is maintained, it is likely that corn will not be imported in 2005 and after, and the amount we need will be met by domestic production.
CORN AGRICULTURE
Corn is a one-year, indigenous to tropical, subtropical and temperate climates, which can grow almost anywhere in the world, except Antarctica, in areas between 58o north and 40o south latitudes, starting from sea level to 4000 m altitude, with abundant sunlight. It is a warm climate grain that is a short day plant.
Soil Requirement: Corn plant grows in almost any type of soil that is fertile, deep, well drained and aerated, has no salinity problems, and is neutral in acidity (pH 6-7). It does not have much soil selectivity. However, corn farming should be avoided in such areas as it is sensitive to salinity (> 1.7 Mmhos / cm) and high ground water.
Field Preparation: If the field reserved for corn agriculture is empty, in other words, if it is separated as fallow, it should be plowed at a depth of 20 cm with a mouldboard plow in autumn and left there until the spring months when planting will take place. Just before planting, the soil should be cultivated with a tool, such as goosefoot, and the necessary pre-planting fertilizers and, if any, weed pesticides to be mixed into the soil before planting, the soil should be mixed with a rake. Thus, the field will be ready for planting. If the field has not been plowed in Autumn, the first soil cultivation to be done in the spring should be done by using tools such as a chisel that tears the soil out, instead of the mouldboard plow that tumbles the soil.
Variety Selection: Years ago, open-fertilized, low-yielding village varieties were cultivated. However, with the development of hybrid varieties, village varieties left their places to hybrid varieties in large production areas. The superiority of hybrid varieties in terms of yield causes the cultivation areas of these varieties to increase from year to year. Hybrid varieties can be single, double, triple or quadruple hybrids. However, it is the single hybrid maize hybrid varieties that are most common on the market right now.
In the selection of the variety, the adaptation of the variety to the region should be investigated and care should be taken to ensure that the number of ripening days is suitable for the region. Today, corn varieties used in agriculture are divided into 8 different groups in the FAO system according to the number of ripening days or in other words, earliness-lateness status. These are located between FAO-100 and FAO-800. The varieties in the FAO-100 group are very early, usually mature in 70-75 days. Those in the FAO-800 group complete their maturation in about 140 days, very late. Likewise, FAO-400 group is medium early, the varieties that mature in 100-105 days, FAO-600 refers to the mid-late varieties that mature in 115-125 days.
In the Thrace region, while the varieties belonging to the FAO 500 and FAO 600 group generally give better results, in the southern regions, in other words, in the regions where the growing period is long, the FAO 700 and FAO 800 group varieties can show good performance.
In the selection of the variety, attention should be paid to the suitability of the ripening periods for the region, to be a high-yielding variety, and to be resistant to some diseases and pests that may occur in the area to be cultivated, and to lying.
Sowing Time: For a good germination and emergence in corn, the soil temperature should be 10-12 oC. This issue should be taken into account when determining the sowing time. In sowing in soils below these temperatures, germination and emergence to the soil surface may pose a risk. In such cases, the seed left in the soil may rot before it germinates. Therefore, the soil temperature should be expected to reach 10-12 oC for corn cultivation. To put this as a date, the main crop maize planting can be started after the 25th of April in the Thrace region, in our southern regions, in early April, and in our Central Anatolia region from 25 April.
To give a rule about the sowing time, it is more guaranteed to start planting after the last frost date of the region. Because, corn planted before the last frost date has a risk of frost damage during the young seedling period.
Corn plantings until the end of the first week of May or II. must be completed by the middle of the week. After these dates, the pollination period may occur in a very hot and dry period and a decrease in grain yield may be observed due to insufficient pollination and fertilization. In addition, in very late corn plantings, the ripening-drying-harvest periods of the corn may coincide with rainy weather, which may cause the product to remain in the field.
In our southern regions, the II. Although the product corn plantings give good results in terms of grain yield, II. crop corn plantings do not give very good results. In this region, very very early varieties can be used if low yields are considered. If the purpose is silage, then all kinds of corn variety II. It can be planted easily as a product. In the Thrace region, in late June or early July II. It is possible to harvest corn that has been cultivated as a product for silage at the end of September at the latest.
Sowing Type and Sowing Frequency: Corn can now be planted in the desired row spacing and row spacing with the developed pneumatic (air) seeders, unlike forced spreading, which is applied in areas where mechanization does not enter or is not suitable for machine agriculture.
In row planting, the row spacing is usually 70 cm, and the row spacing is 25 cm. In this way, there are approximately 6,000 plants per decare. In terms of optimum grain yield, research has determined that the most appropriate density is 6,000-7,000 plants per decare. In addition, it is known that high yields can be obtained when there are 8,000-9,000 plants per decare.
If the purpose of corn cultivation is to obtain silage, the distances between and above the rows can be slightly narrowed. For example, while reducing the d
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