Distribuição de plantas de milho em sistema pneumático com diferentes regulagens de pressão de vácuo e peneiras de sementes

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the seed size of the corn under different vacuum pressure regulations in a pneumatic distribution system, on a plant distribution, final and individual productivity per plant. The trial was conducted in the city of Verê / PR. The pneumatic vSet® distribution system (Precision Planting®) was used. Four size of 30F53VYH hybrid corn seeds (C1, C4, R1, and R4) were submitted to four different vacuum pressure settings (7; 12; 17; 22 in H2O-1). The design was used for randomized blocks, with subdivided plots, and 4 replicates. In the main plot they consisted as pressures and in the subplots like size seeds, being each of the main lines of 20 m of length. Initially, they were characterized as seeds, evaluating the percentage of germination, weight of one thousand seeds, length, width, thickness and sphericity. After the emergence of the plants, the longitudinal distribution uniformity was evaluated through the parameters of longitudinal distribution (miss, multi and normal), standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV) and mean distribution uniformity, seeding depth and initial population. In pre-harvest, we evaluated the final population of plants, percentage of dominated plants, yield per plant and total. The data were submitted to an analysis of variance and there were significant differences (p≤0.05), as means of the sizes were compared by the Tukey test (p≤0.05), while for the working pressure factor, polynomial regression analysis, the models being selected by criterion the highest R2 and the significance (p≤0.05) of the parameters of the equation. The reduction of the vacuum pressure resulted in the increase of the SD, being that the size R1 presents the highest values of SD and the size C4 the lowest values. Regardless of the pressure and the size tested in the CV values were not significant. The size C1 has the lowers multi rates and, a larger C4. Lower vacuum pressures result in higher miss indexes, with a size C4 having the lowest values, and also the highest normal rates. As sizes C1 and R1 responding negatively, as for the average uniformity of plant distribution, with a reduction of vacuum pressure. The size R1 has a smaller population of plants, but the size C1 showed reduction of the final population of plants and yield of grains with a reduction of the pressure. Dominated and multi plants tend to produce a smaller number of kernels per ear, consequently lower individual yield of grains. Like spikes of neighboring plants, an miss plants does not have the capacity to compensate in productivity to the lack of the plant.