After the visit to Poland – 2 new species of corn in the variety of “Agrochema”

At the beginning of September, the head of Crop Production Department of “Agrochema” Mantas Mačėnas, visited the corn variety trial fields at COBORU variety research centre in Białystok, Poland, at the invitation of “Rapool Ring” and “Saaten Union”. Brand new species of “Saaten Union” corn, which have not yet appeared on the market, were evaluated here.

Corn cultivation in Poland is important from both agronomic and economic point of view. The country is putting a lot of effort into developing corn species adapted to the specific local climate and soil, and the research carried out at COBORU species research stations makes a significant contribution to the agricultural sector of Poland and the neighbouring countries.

Extensive trials of corn species are carried out at COBORU station, the trials cover several aspects: productivity and quality parameters, resistance to our climate conditions and pests, furthermore, FAO (maturity time) indicator is determined.

FAO index is one of the most important parameters that must be taken into consideration when choosing the corn species. It indicates how early is species and determines the length of the growing season during which the plant accumulates dry mass. According to FAO index, the corn species are subdivided into the following categories:

• FAO up to 190 – very early species,
• FAO 200-230 – early species,
• FAO 240-250 – medium early species,
• FAO 260-290 – medium late species,
• FAO 300 and more – late species.

“Saaten Union” is well known as a successful breeder of cereals and legumes – we distribute their winter wheat SU MANGOLD, spring wheat SORBAS, beans LYNX, peas SALAMANCA, and now we will try corn as well, said the Head of Crop Production Department M. Mačėnas. – I selected two novelties, THERMIC (FAO 210-230) and CLIMBER (FAO 200-220), species that stood out due to their biomass, large cobs arranged on the same level. This is a very important criterion for harvesting in order to obtain forage of the highest nutritional value. That is a very important criterion for harvesting in order to obtain forage of the highest nutritional value. Under favourable conditions, both species can be grown for grain, but in my opinion, we will not grow such high FAO corn species for grain in Lithuania for a long time.”