ROMANIAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, vol.31, pp.193-203, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different liquid-manure doses and manure + chemical fertilizer combinations on yield and quality parameters of silage corn cultivated as second crop, under reduced tillage condition. The experiments were carried out in randomised block design with 4 replications during the years 2010 and 2011 in Turkey. A total of 12 treatments were tested in the experiments and some morphological and quality parameters were investigated. Average of two years indicated that green herbage yield varied between 3.02-4.37 t ha(-1), plant height between 186.70-220.83 cm, cob ratio between 31.80-36.38 %, leaf ratio between 15.45-20.77%, stem ratio between 43.78-48.54%, crude protein ratio between 4.17-7.94%, Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) between 66.41-69.72% and acid detergent fibre (ADF) between 34.36-37.79%. Comparisons between green herbage yields of single chemical nitrogen treatment (control) and liquid manure combinations revealed that 20 ton liquid manure + 20 kg ha(-1) chemical nitrogen combination (L2N2) was not significantly different (4,37 t ha(-1)) but better than control treatment (4,32 t ha(-1)). However, crude protein ratio of control treatment (7.9%) was higher than L2N2 treatment (5.34%) and the difference between them with regard to crude protein ratio was found to be significant. The first experiment on sustainable second crop silage maize production under reduced tillage conditions in Central Anatolia demonstrated that chemical nitrogen use can significantly be reduced and replaced by using liquid manure as an alternative source, without any negative effects on soil characteristics.