Fertilization of corn

Corn is a popular crop worldwide, widely valued for its extraordinary taste and nutritional value. It is a source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. Today, corn is used in the food industry for the production of flour, groats and oil, among other things. It is a plant with relatively low soil requirements and high heat requirements. It is advisable to use well-balanced fertilization to grow corn.
Corn is grown in Poland mainly as a fodder crop (for drought, silage or grain), but increasingly new varieties of corn are being developed for the food and chemical industries, or for direct human consumption. Corn stands out among other crops for its very high yield, but also for its high nutritional requirements. Depending on the amount of fresh weight and grain yield obtained, corn takes from 120 to 160 kg of nitrogen, 40-60 kg of phosphorus, 130-170 kg of potassium, 30-45 kg of calcium, 25-35 kg of magnesium, and significant amounts of essential micronutrients per hectare.
Due to its valuable nutritional value for animals and humans, the plant should be especially carefully and skillfully fertilized, so that in addition to the maximum biomass yield, the best possible biological value is obtained. Failure to take into account in the cultivation of corn its large nutritional needs, or the use of excessive amounts of individual mineral components, results in the development of physiological diseases leading to a reduction in yield or to a deterioration in its nutritional value.

Insufficient supply of nitrogen makes young corn plants pale green and small. The lower blades turn yellow from the top along the main nerve to the base of the leaf, and a purplish red coloration appears on the leaf scabbards. Plant vegetation is accelerated, while the yield of green matter and grain is low. Excess nitrogen, on the other hand, is manifested by dark green leaves and very luxuriant growth of corn, but plant maturation is delayed, and the forage value of green fodder and grain deteriorates.

Thanks to phosphorus, corn produces a high yield of cobs with well-filled and valuable grain. Phosphorus deficiency manifests itself in stiffness and browning of the lower leaves, which twist downward and their edges turn brown. Young leaves take phosphorus away from older leaves, causing them to slowly turn brown and die. A single application of phosphorus fertilizer in the rotation does not provide corn with a good supply of this essential element.

Corn needs large amounts of potassium. Its deficiency causes necrotic brown patches to appear between the leaf innervations, with the main nerve remaining green for a long time. Plants form fewer cobs, which are short, with poorly formed grain on top. Potassium deficiency leads to a significant reduction in yield, while a good supply of this element increases corn’s resistance to drought, guarantees a good yield of green matter and grain, and ensures good biological value of fodder.

Corn has a high demand for magnesium. On soils poor in this element (excessively acidic), the margins of the oldest leaves quickly dry out, taking on a rusty color. As a result, green matter yield and grain yield decrease.

Corn is particularly sensitive to zinc deficiency in the soil. Under deficiency conditions, shortly after emergence, the tops of the seedlings turn white. Plants fail to develop a stalk and consequently stop growing.

Corn, like other cereals, is sensitive to copper deficiency. The leaves of seedlings curl into a tube shape at the tops, turn white and die.

With a deficiency of molybdenum in the soil, corn leaves are pale green. Plants grow slowly, panicling is delayed, and very short cobs with poorly developed pistils are formed.

Corn reacts to iron deficiency in the soil. The plants turn very pale, especially the youngest leaves; the so-called leaf striping, i.e. light streaks between green nerves, appears. To avoid the occurrence of physiological diseases caused by insufficient supply of corn with zinc, copper, molybdenum and iron, it is recommended to use such mineral fertilizers that contain the necessary micronutrients in their composition. All multicompound fertilizers produced by Fosfan contain micronutrients suitable for corn, and thus meet the high nutritional requirements of corn.