Tytuł pozycji:
Economic effects of summer catch crops application in sweet corn cultivation
The work presents the results of investigations conducted in 2004-
2007 to evaluate the residual effect of summer catch crops ploughed as
green manures on productive-economic effects of sweet corn cultivation.
The experiment was carried out in east-central Poland (52°03’N,
22°33’E). The following summer catch crops were grown: phacelia, amaranth,
sunflower, serradella and faba bean. The catch crop seeds were
sown in 2004-2006 at three dates: on the 21stJuly, 4th and 18th August. The
effect of summer catch crops was compared to FYM applied at the rate of 40
t·ha-1. The catch crops biomass (roots + above ground parts) and FYM were
incorporated in the third decade of October. Sweet corn seeds (6 kg·ha-1)
were sown in mid-May, in the years 2005-2007, at the between – and inter-
row spacing of 65 × 20 cm. Sweet corn ears were hand-harvested at
the stage of milk maturity of kernels, at the turn of August and September.
During the harvest marketable yield of ears (t·ha-1) and number of
marketable ears per 1 ha were determined. Economic evaluation of sweet
corn cultivation under diversified organic fertilization was conducted according
to the standard gross margin method. The calculation was based
on the 2014 prices. The highest yield and number of ears were obtained
after catch crops with faba bean and phacelia sown on the 21st July and
after FYM. Delaying the sowing date of catch crops resulted in a decrease
in the successive yielding effect. The highest gross margin (25267.66
PLN·ha-1 and 0.56 PLN per 1 ear) and profitability index (332%) were
achieved in the sweet corn cultivation after catch crop with faba bean
sown on the 21st July. Compared to the plot with FYM, a higher level of
gross margin and profitability index were obtained after all catch crops sown on the 21st July and the 4th August. Irrespective of investigated factors,
profitability index was on a very high level amounting to 211-332%.