January 2022 - 24

SWEET CORN
Sweet corn yield gain leaves room for improvement
By Lauren Quinn
University of Illinois
New research from the University of
Illinois shows sweet corn, when planted
at high densities, has steadily increased
in yield since the 1930s. The historical
view underscores the importance of
planting modern density-tolerant
hybrids at their optimal densities, and
suggests an opportunity to improve
density tolerance even more.
" Over time, steady improvement in
plant density tolerance has contributed
greatly to genetic yield gain in field
corn. While our recent research
indicates plant density tolerance in
modern sweet corn hybrids could be
exploited to improve yield, historical
changes in plant density tolerance in
sweet corn were unknown, " said Daljeet
Dhaliwal, doctoral student in the
Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois
and lead author on a new Frontiers in
Plant Science article.
Dhaliwal and Marty Williams, a
USDA-ARS ecologist and adjunct
professor in the department, tested sweet
corn crowding tolerance in hybrids
dating from 1934 to 2014. They found
marketable ear mass increased by a total
Nick Hausman, left, and Daljeet Dhaliwal in the field. Photo: University of Illinois
of 2.85 tons per acre over the 80-year
time period, or 0.36 tons per acre per
decade, when grown at high densities.
To quantify these historical changes,
Williams worked his connections in the
sweet corn seed industry. Many of the
early hybrids are no longer available,
so companies offered to recreate the
hybrids from scratch.
" The seed industry was willing to
go through a lot of effort to create
these hybrids at no cost to us. It took
about five years to get the germplasm
together, " Williams said. " This project
would not have been possible without
Nirvana
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January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022

January 2022 - 1
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