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International Journal of Agronomy
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 842582, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/842582
Influence of Corn (Zea mays L.) Cultivar Development on Grain Nutrient Concentration
1Departamento de Solos e Engenharia Agrícola, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal do Paraná, 1540 Rua dos Funcionários, 80035-050 Curitiba, PR, Brazil
2ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, USDA 411 South Donahue Drive, Auburn, AL 36832, USA
3Monsanto do Brasil Ltda, 12901 Nações Unidas Avenue, 7th Floor, 04578-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
4Departamento de Genética, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Centro Politécnico, Universidade Federal do Paraná, P.O. Box 19071, 81531-990 Curitiba, PR, Brazil
Received 5 June 2012; Accepted 31 July 2012
Academic Editor: David Clay
Copyright © 2012 Carla Fernanda Ferreira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
While corn productivity has been increased by the adoption of high-yield hybrids, there are concerns that increased grain potential may be associated with diminished grain nutrient concentration. Ten corn (Zea mays L.) cultivars representing five technological levels (landrace variety, commercial variety, and double, triple, and single cross-hybrids) were cropped on a Rhodic Ferralsol Eutric soil with high fertility in 2006 (dry year) and 2007 (normal year) in Rolândia County, Brazil. At maturity, grain was evaluated for concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu. In general, differences among cultivars were noted for all nutrients in both years. Concentrations of P, K, Fe, and Mn were lower in the dry year, while Ca, Mg, Cu, and Zn were higher. Soil water availability appeared to exert more influence on grain nutrient concentration than did cultivar development; nutrient removal due to grain harvest was also greatly influenced by rainfall patterns and their impact on corn productivity. Even though genetic differences were noted, which may be useful to breeding programs, long-term testing in subtropical environments will be required to clarify the interaction between genetics and climate events on grain nutrient quality and exportation.