The national corn post-registration variety trial took place at ten locations

(Photo: Pixabay)

The National Association of Grain Growers (GOSZ), the Seed Association Professional Organization and Product Council (VSZT) and the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) have published the results of post-registration corn variety experiments for the sixteenth time. The purpose of the experiments is that, with the objective results, users can choose from tested varieties capable of achieving adequate quantity and quality.

A total of 43 hybrids belonging to the FAO 200, 300, 400 and 500 ripening groups were examined in the variety experiment in 2022

These were coded before sowing, and then sown at ten locations in the country – Bóly, Gyulatanya, Hajdúböszörmény, Hanságliget, Iregszemcsé, Jászboldogháza, Püski, Székkutas, Szombathely and Tordas. The organizers expand the experimental sites every year, so that data from different regions of the country can be included in the experiment. In 2022, the range of test locations was expanded to include Hanságliget. The evaluation was carried out by NÉBIH after receiving the data from all locations. The plots in Jászboldogház, Székkutas and Hajdúböszörmény had to be excluded from the evaluation due to extreme drought damage, and the irrigated early and mid-ripening group in Gyulatanya due to the unevenness caused by drought damage. When displaying the grain yield results of the ripening groups, the experimental locations were also classified according to the evolution of the average yield.

This year, for the first time in the publication, irrigated experimental results from Gyulatanya and Püski were published

The results of the irrigated and non-irrigated production sites were aggregated separately, on the basis of which the performance of the hybrids could also be evaluated from the point of view of how they behaved in favorable and unfavorable conditions. Géza Takács, president of the Seed Association, said: the objective results obtained in the most difficult growing season in the history of corn variety experiments provide extremely useful feedback for farmers, because due to climate change, we can expect similarly extreme weather in the future. Tamás Petőházi, president of the National Association of Grain Growers (GOSZ) according to the well-thought-out experimental methodology that was developed years ago – after serious professional consultation – that the variety experiment was successful even in last year’s adverse year, and the results help the farmers in their planning.

Balázs Győrffy, the president of the National Chamber of Agrarian Economy (NAK), emphasized that plant growers suffered huge losses last year

Due to the drought, the farmers were unable to harvest the crop on about a third of the corn production area, 280 thousand hectares, or had to bury the plant. For this reason, the offer list of varieties compiled based on the results of variety experiments gives farmers a reliable reference point for variety selection, since it is visible which plants perform relatively well even under such conditions.

The publication on the results of the experiment is available here: http://www.vszt.hu/hu/aktualitasok/gosz-vszt-nak-kukorica-posztregisztracios-kiserlet-2022.html.