Effects of Planting Density and Nitrogen (N) Application Rate on Light Energy Utilization and Yield of Maize

Abstract

Planting density and N fertilizer application amount directly affect the planting quality of maize. Therefore, this study analyzed the impact of these two factors on light energy utilization and yield. The field experiment was carried out with Xinyu 57 maize as the experimental variety. An experiment was set up with four different planting densities and three different N fertilizer concentrations. The light use efficiency, productivity, and growth of maize were observed. The effects of planting density and N fertilization on light use efficiency at the heading stage were analyzed in detail. Finally, it was concluded that high-density planting and the proper application of N fertilizer can significantly improve the light energy efficiency and yield of maize. High-density planting has a significant effect on corn light energy utilization. Increasing N fertilizer can improve the photosynthetic characteristics of plants, increase the content of photosynthetic pigments in maize ear leaves, and improve the utilization rate of light energy and yield.