Drying of corn strains harvested as cobs for selection of mother plants for seed production

Abstract

In this study, the objective was to evaluate the sensitivity of different genotypes of harvested corn cob to drying, performing artificial drying of cobs harvested at different moisture contents and drying temperatures. Six maize lines from DuPont division Pioneer Seeds Ltd., District of Morrinhos – GO were grown. The ears were manually harvested at three moisture contents (40, 35 and 30%) and dried artificially in two small-scale dryers at 35 and 43 °C until a water content of 10 to 12%. After drying, the cobs were shelled manually and then treated with fungicides and sent to the laboratory for the germination test, cold test and modified cold test. Statistical differences in variables assessed permit to conclude that the sensitivity of drying corn seed harvested is dependent on the strain. Drying at a temperature of 43 °C leads to loss of seed quality in the tested strains. The strains 3 and 6 showed better physiological quality when harvested with water content of 35 to 40%.