Evaluation of newly developed maize hybrids for yield, whole plant composition and ensiling characteristics under Indian climate

Hundal, J. S., Wadhwa, M., Sharma, A., Singh, G. and Kaur, H. 2020. Evaluation of newly developed maize hybrids for yield, whole plant composition and ensiling characteristics under Indian climate. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 20: 393–407.

To evaluate the yield, whole plant composition and ensiling characteristics, five newly developed maize hybrids (BL 1850, BL 4162, BL 9556, BL 8417 and PL 1844) were grown in a completely randomized block design, each with three replications. The entire maize hybrids were shown variable emergence potential as stand count, plant height, number of cobs and cob length remained variable (P<0.05) among different maize hybrids. The biological yield was recorded highest in BL 8417 (549.3 q/ha; P<0.05) in comparison to BL 1850 (459.3 q/ha) and PL 1844 (433.4 q/ha) whereas DM yield remained at par (P>0.05) among all maize hybrids. The values for TDN (%) and net energy lactation (NE_l Mcal/kg) were significantly higher for BL 8417 and PL 1844 maize hybrids whereas the lowest values for TDN (68.64%), NE_l (1.56 Mcal/kg), digestible DM (67.54%), relative feed value (RFV; 1.34) and relative feed quality (RFQ; 3.13) were reported in BL 9556 maize hybrid. Following ensiling for 45 d, non-significant (P>0.05) variations in silage pH, acetic acid and ammonia-N were observed among different maize hybrids; however, lactic acid content remained statistically lower (P=0.013) in PL 1844 hybrid silage. The values for TDN, digestible DM, NE_L, RFV and RFQ in silages prepared from BL 8417 and PL 1844 were highest in comparison to other maize varieties whereas NDF digestibility, ME, OM digestibility, ammonia-N and fermentation efficiency remained comparable (P>0.05) among the tested maize hybrids. Overall, BL 8417 and PL 1844 maize hybrids emerged as superior cultivars with respect to pre-ensiling and post-ensiling characteristics; however, due to better crop yield and nutritive value as silage for ruminants, BL 8417 was considered the best among all the tested hybrids.