Forage maize yield in function of rainfall in climatic conditions of Vojvodina (Republic of Serbia)

Abstract

Knowledge on the variability of average rainfall characteristics during growing season is essential for efficient management of plant production. Maize is a very convenient crop for forage production. In Serbia, maize is grown under dry land farming, so that yield is highly dependent on amount and distribution of rainfall during the growing season. The aim of this investigation was to estimate the effects of rainfall (amount of rainfall during the growing season and average monthly rainfall) on the maize forage yield in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Republic of Serbia) for the period 2000-2015. Investigated of rainfall characteristics from 2000 to 2015 were lower than optimal amount of rainfall, which indicates that the distribution of rainfall was not satisfactory for maximum plants production. The coefficient of variation indicates moderately fluctuations of monthly rainfall. Regression equations indicate that forage yield increased with increasing amounts of rainfall characteristics. The lower increase forage yield was in April (0.9%) and the highest increase in August (35.1%). Forage maize yield had strong positive relationship with amount of rainfall during the growing season and average monthly rainfall for May and August. On other hand, values of correlation coefficients for other studied rainfall characteristics indicated that there is positive relationship with forage maize yield but not significant. The implication of this finding is that the amount of rainfall determined the forage yield. The important determinant is the distribution of rainfall within the year.