Abstract:

To study the influence of meteorological factors on spring maize grain filling speed in the plateau area of eastern Gansu Province, the authors used maize sowing data and meteorological data in Xifeng test site of the National Agrometeorological Experimental Station from 2018 to 2020, to analyze the relationship between meteorological factors and maize grain filling. The results showed that the variation of grain-filling speed and grain-filling days presented a quadratic curve. The 100-grain weight increased the fastest from the 24^th to 46^th day after flowering, and the grain filling speed reached the peak on the 38^th day after flowering. The main meteorological factors affecting the grain filling speed included the average temperature, the maximum temperature, the minimum temperature, daily range of temperature, sunshine hours, air humidity and precipitation. Temperature and sunshine had positive effects, while humidity and precipitation had negative effects. The suitable sowing time of maize should be determined according to the climate of the year, so that the rapid growth period of the 100-grain weight could coincide with the period of high temperature and little rain in Qingyang, avoiding the influence of the weather with more rain and less sunlight, thus achieving stable and high yield.

Key words: meteorological factors, the plateau area of eastern Gansu, spring maize, grain filling speed