Corn Plant

Corns plant in my farm in Kampong Thom province

1. Soil

Corns can be grown well in mud soil near river, canal, lakes, or small rivers and volcanic red soil, volcanic black soil, forest soil, alluvial soil, and sandy silt.

2. Weather

Corns like dry and wet weather. We can plant corns all the times in Cambodia, if we supply enough water.

3. Water

Corns need water but they don’t grow well in rainy time even though it doesn’t wet corn roots.

4. The quality of fruits

Corn is a basic food of powder and scraps that can be made as foods, feeds, and vegetables. Its young fruits, raw fruits, and even ripen fruits are the most favorite for people.

5. Corn race selection

We should choose a corn with three advantages such as good taste, high growth, and high yield. There are three kinds of corns we should consider:

- Sticky corn: Big fruits, double heads, and soft kernels (meat) and can be grilled for food. It value in market.

- Local corn or Kouy corn: Big fruits, single head, and soft kernels (meat) and it tastes like sticky corn.

- Maize: It is a yellow corn and a new imported race. It produces big fruits, high yield and it is easy to plant as above races. It contain powder almost two times of white corn that why it has tight meat. It tastes so delicious when we boil immediately after collecting from farm. We ate a maize means we ate 2 white corns but its quality is equal to 3 white corns.

6. Place selection

We should choose a place near your house or near a pond to plant corn or we can choose a place near river bank or near the water source.

7. Soil preparation

The soil for corn is quite similar to other vegetables soil preparation. First we plow soil  and dry soil for 3-4 days and second we make the soil fine so that it easy to plant corns in straight rows.

8. Seed selection

Seeds must be brought from the middle of corncob because the top and the bottom kernels are small. The middle kernels are flat and long and they can grow very well. We should soak  the seeds 3-4 hours before planting.

9. Planting

Young corn plant in a vegetables yard

- We can plant corn after rain in April. If the field looks rough make sure it become smooth because some holes are at lower or rough places corns didn’t grow out.
– If it rained in the afternoon or at night we should soak seeds immediately to plant tomorrow so that they grow well.
– We have another way to plant corns by packing the soil to insert seeds. We use dibble stick to make holes for planting corn-kernels. We don’t use sharp dibble stick, we use the wide bottom dibble stick to grow seeds well and it’s easy to take some small plants out of hole.
– We pack 4-6 cm deep depending on wet or dry soil. We pack deep for dry soils and not to deep for wet soil.
– We pack holes every 0.6 m and 0.9 m from each row. If we plant just in a row we pack only 0,3 m from hole to hole.
– We put 5-6 corn-kernels per hole by fulfilling holes with wet sandy soil or alluvial soil.

Corns are flowering in my farm near Stuengsen river

10. Some difficulties

- The first difficulty is that the seeds didn’t grow well. Many holes weren’t grow by seeds because the seeds were rotten or they couldn’t grow out, so we should over fulfill holes by sandy soil and water them.
– Crickets cut young corn and chicken eat their sprouts. To avoid from crickets we harrow the field before planting.
– Dry soil made corn wilted and low fruits producing. To avoid this problem, we just pound their bases and cover their bases by small woods or leaves or straw.
– Another difficulty of corns near river or lake is that they will be sunk by water in rainy season. Food is a natural disaster we are difficult to protect. Insects also the main problem we should pay much attention. We shouldn’t use poison to kill insect especially worms we just use wood leaves or bark as poison, it doesn’t effect to our life.

11. Caring

- When corns grow 2 leaves we must pull out a small young corn.
– When they grow 3 leaves we pull out another small young corn.
– When they grow around 3-5 cm tall we must mound up their base.
– After a few days, we mound up their bases again.
– When they grow under your knee we should find out the ball stems and pull them out because they are useless. The flat stems produce many big fruits.
– When they grow to our knee tall we start mounding up on more time to get more roots growing from their stems and help them grow faster by its roots.
– When the corns were completely flowering, we should find and cut small and short young fruits stems. We can sell or eat those young fruits and corncobs.
– When the corn silk was faded we should cut the lowest two leaves and pull grasses to make the wind flow that can make corns fruits bigger and become mature faster.
– Corns produce high yield only 3-4 flat stems per clump.

A corn field near a long river in Kampong Thom province, Cambodia

12. Cultivation

We shouldn’t cut off their stems from the stems, we should keep both fruits and its stem by using a sharp knife to cut from the corn base and bring to outside the farm before cutting off their fruits and keep their leaves for animal food. We shouldn’t throw out the corn stems because theirs stems can make more fertilizers and can earn half of your profit from corn fruits. We transport our corn to sell at markets or we can sell to dealers who come to buy at our farm.

A corn fruits we can grill to eat. Big fruits grow fast on a big stem.

Sourc From: http://chamkarkhmer.com

1:28 AM   by Bora ·   0

Corn Plant

The first spikes of corn to emerge in springtime settle a farmer’s initial apprehension.
Farmers plant corn with a lot of optimism and faith, says Len Corzine, a corn farmer from Assumption, Illinois. After all, they sow around 35,000 seeds per acre and in five months hope for a return of 14.5 million kernels, about 200 bushels per acre.

Field corn covers about 72 million acres across the country. (But don’t confuse field corn with sweet corn!) While a corn farmer’s greatest visibility arrives with spring planting and fall harvest, the business of growing corn fills the calendar, with tasks ranging from seed selection and soil preparation to marketing, technology updates and a constant awareness of the weather forecast.
Spring carries the highest anxiety for farmers eager to plant another crop after a winter of repairing machinery and handling bookwork, bills and supply orders. Soil preparation resumes in this season, and corn planting begins in April, weather permitting.

Farmers spend summers scouting field conditions and protecting the health of the crop with timely agrichemical applications to treat or protect the plants from insect, weed and disease infestations. In July, farmers prefer mild temperatures and adequate rainfall to reduce stress as the corn plant pollinates and creates kernels.
“Watching that grain develop is fascinating to me because of all the things we are able to do with that corn plant,” Corzine says, noting corn’s extensive use in livestock feed, food processing and ethanol.
By fall, the plant matures, kernels dry and harvest equipment gathers the crop. Soil sampling, fertilizer applications and tillage decisions follow the large harvesting machine known as a combine, as does another round of bookwork to close the year and begin another.

2:56 AM   by Bora ·   0

Host Plants of European Corn Borer

Host Plants of European Corn Borer

Sweet corn, popcorn, and seed corn are the second most affected plants by ECB, behind field corn. Other crop species that are occasionally infested include, cotton, peppers, snap beans, wheat, and potatoes. Some plants that have been reported to be infested with ECB but cannot host the larva through their lifecycle include 'apples, chrysanthemum, lima bean, soybean, black-eyed pea, small grains, sorghum, tomato, onion, and sage' (Mason et al, 1996).

Damage

Damage caused by European corn borer ranges from mild to severe. Since corn is the first choice of a host for the ECB, damage to field corn, sweet corn, popcorn, and seed corn is usually the most severe. The ECB attacks many different areas of the plant. The first generation of ECB attacks the leaves and stalks of the corn plant. ECB larvae leave small holes in the leaves and holes entering the stalk of the plant indicating the beginning of a tunnel. The second generation ECB feed on the leaves, the stalk, the ear, and the bottom portion of the leaves closest to the stalk called the leaf collar and sheath. The third generation continues to feed on the leaf collar and sheath, as well as the ear (Fig. 6a and 6b).

Fig. 6a Corn plant: This picture shows the different parts of the corn plant (University of Nebraska Lincoln, 2001)

Fig. 6b Corn plant: This picture shows an ear of corn on a mature plant. (University of Nebraska Lincoln, 2004)

Any of the generations that feed on the corn plant can cause problems both while the plant is growing and during harvest. Feeding on the leaves and the stalk disrupt the biological processes of the plant (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7 ECB 5th instar larva: This picture shows the ECB damage done to the inside of a corn stalk. (David L. Keith, University of Nebraska Lincoln. 1977)

For example, when the ECB larvae damage the green leaves of the plant, this reduces the plant’s ability to perform photosynthesis. When the stalk of the plant is damaged, this reduces the amount of water and nutrients that can travel through the stalk to the developing ear. Therefore, since the amount of nutrients is reduced, the developing ear cannot reach its full potential, which results in a reduced yield for the producer. European corn borers also feed on the ear shank of the corn plant. Once the ear shank is damaged this increases the probability that the ear will drop to the ground, making it unable to be harvested.

When damage occurs from ECB the plant is also at a higher risk for disease. Injury caused by the ECB, creates an easy location for disease pathogens to enter the plant. In this situation, stalk rot is a common disease to affect corn plants. When disease and damage occur, the stalk weakens and complicates the harvest process. Plants that have become lodged due to disease or damage, are often unable to be harvested and may even make it difficult for equipment to move through the field.

Sweet corn, popcorn, and seed corn are affected in much the same way as field corn. Since sweet corn is sold fresh and for canning, ear feeding by ECB is the most damaging. However, in popcorn shank feeding by ECB affects the plants, causing the ears to drop on the ground and decreasing harvestable yields. European corn borer feeding on seed corn plants can directly affect the seed stock for the next growing season by reducing the amount of seed that is produced per plant.

Damage that occurs to other types of crops, such as peppers or potatoes, includes boring into the fruit and stalk and laying eggs on the leaves of the plant. This is a problem because the moths will lay their egg masses on other types of plant material. Once these eggs are mature they will hatch and larval feeding causes damage to both the leaves and fruit. The damage on the leaves will reduce the plants ability to grow normally. This can directly affect the production of fruits and vegetables. ECB will also bore into fruit making it unsuitable in the fresh market. Since the European corn borer is a damaging pest, it needs to be controlled to avoid excessive crop damage.

2:54 AM   by Bora ·   0