Sweet Corn Yield Gain Over 80 Years Leaves Room for Improvement
Published:02 Nov.2021 Source:University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
New research from the University of Illinois shows sweet corn, when planted at high densities, has steadily increased in yield since the 1930s. The historical view underscores the importance of planting modern density-tolerant hybrids at their optimal densities, and suggests an opportunity to improve density tolerance even more.
"Over time, steady improvement in plant density tolerance has contributed greatly to genetic yield gain in field corn. While our recent research indicates plant density tolerance in modern sweet corn hybrids could be exploited to improve yield, historical changes in plant density tolerance in sweet corn were unknown," says Daljeet Dhaliwal, doctoral student in the Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois and lead author on a new Frontiers in Plant Science article.