STUDY OF BIOMETRIC INDICATORS OF EARLY-MATURING CORN HYBRIDS DEPENDING ON FERTILIZATION AND AGROCLIMATIC RISKS

Abstract

The article highlights the issue of a comprehensive assessment of the growth and development of modern early-ripening corn hybrids depending on agroclimatic risks and different mineral nutrition backgrounds. The result of the research is an analysis of biometric indicators of corn hybrids depending on the rates of mineral fertilizer application under extreme weather conditions in 2024 and 2025. It was established that during the research, the height of corn plants in the phase of full maturity at the fertilizer rates N90P60K60 was higher for all hybrids in the years of research. Thus, the indicator of the Ambador hybrid (FAO 230) exceeded the indicator of the Invictus hybrid (FAO 210) by 1.5 cm, and the Shikari hybrid (FAO 200) by 0.8 cm. Comparing the best fertilizer option with the control, we see an excess of 9.9 cm for the Ambador hybrid, 12 cm for the Invictus hybrid, and 11.6 cm for the Shikari hybrid, which indicates the effectiveness of complete mineral nutrition compared to only sowing fertilizer application in the control. Slightly lower indicators were obtained for the variant with the N60P60K60 fertilizer system compared to the best variant, but this system also showed better results compared to the control. Studies have shown that the height of the head attachment on the Ambador hybrid in the variant with N90P60K60 fertilizer exceeded the control by 14–24 cm, and in the variant with N60P60K60 fertilizer, the excess was 9 cm. The indicators for the Invictus hybrid on the same fertilizer options exceeded the control by 12–22 cm and 7–9 cm, respectively. The indicators for the Shikari hybrid on the fertilizer options increased compared to the control by 14–20 cm and 7–8 cm. The realization of the genetic potential of corn hybrids depending on the fertilization system under extreme agroclimatic conditions showed better results in the variant with the N90P60K60 fertilization system for the Ambador and Invictus hybrids compared to the control. The results of the research provide grounds to recommend the use of balanced norms N90P60K60, which provided full nutrition throughout the growing season. Extreme agroclimatic conditions significantly affect the growth and development of corn plants, however, hybrids with high genetic potential, Ambador and Invictus, are able to partially compensate for the negative impact of stress factors with sufficient nutrition. Prospects for further research include studying the dynamics of biomass accumulation and productivity elements of corn hybrids during the growing season at different levels of nutrient supply.