Corn

The corn (Zea mays L. 2n=20) plant, whose origin and gene center is the American continent, is of great importance for the sufficient and economic production of plant-based proteins both in the world and in Turkey. Especially in our country, corn agriculture contributes to animal protein production to a great extent. In addition, starch, glucose and corn oil obtained from the grain of corn are of great importance in terms of raw materials in the economy.

Corn ranks third in world grain cultivation and production after wheat (232 million ha planted, 595 million tons production, 257 kg/da grain yield) and paddy (146 million ha planted, 519 million tons production, 356 kg/da grain yield). The cultivation area in the world is approximately 130 million ha, 475 million tons in production and 370 kg in yield per decare. Turkey ranks 7th among the world countries in terms of corn cultivation area. Corn plant has the most cultivation area and production in our country after wheat (9.5 million ha sowing, 20 million tons production, 212 kg/da grain yield) and barley (3.3 million ha sowing, 7.3 million tons production, 220 kg/da grain yield). It is a hot climate cereal with 585 thousand ha sowing, 2.5 million tons of production and 425 kg/da grain yield. Corn production has increased significantly in recent years, especially in our country, due to the increase in irrigated areas. The cultivation of second crop corn in irrigated agricultural areas provides a high quality, abundant and cheap feed source for dairy and livestock breeders.

Corn varieties grown in our country are dent corn (Zea mays intendata), flint corn (Zea mays indurata), maize or popcorn (Zea mays everta) and sweet corn. (Zea mays saccharata). The cultivation area increased rapidly after the 1980s with the widespread use of seeds of hybrid varieties of dent corn among farmers. The cultivation area of flint corn is generally very common in places where bread is made from corn flour, such as the Black Sea region. Maize and sweet corn are cultivated throughout the country in small areas to be eaten as snacks.

Since productive corn production areas depend on irrigable areas, it almost reached the highest limit. For this reason, the way to reach the targeted amounts in corn production is possible by increasing the yield taken from the unit area significantly. Increasing the productivity in maize agriculture will be possible with the widespread use of high-yield and quality seeds, as well as the implementation of various research-based agronomic practices in place and on time.