Corn is the most important fodder crop cultivated in Poland for silage and grain. The cultivation area of this plant in 2014 was 1219 thousand ha, which was 491 thousand ha more than in 2010 (Statistical Yearbook of Agriculture 2015). Such a significant increase in cultivation area indicates that it is being grown on increasingly poorer agricultural land characterized by acidic soil pH and low levels of organic matter and essential mineral nutrients. Therefore, it is particularly important to use good and proven carbonate lime fertilizers on these soils, which have a beneficial effect on soil structure and pH. One of the best products of this type is POLCALC III GENERATION – granulated carbonate lime containing up to 98% CaCO3. The optimal soil pH for corn cultivation is pH 6.0-7.5. It significantly affects the uptake of nutrients from the soil and the growth and development of corn.
The ultimate effect of soil liming is high yield (Fig. 1, Table 1). Hołubowicz-Kliza (2006) showed that the highest relative grain yield of corn (100%) was obtained when this plant was grown on soil with a pH of 6.8-7.5. She also showed that at a soil pH of 7.0, the efficiency of NPK uptake by corn is 100%. The presented literature data are consistent with the results of field fertilizer experiments conducted by Polcalc Sp. z o.o. in Mochełek on the grounds of the Research Station of the Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology of the University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz. In the experiment, doses of 500 and 1000 kg∙ha1 of granulated carbonate lime POLCALC III GENERATION. It was shown that the highest yield of corn grain with a moisture content of 14% was obtained after applying 1000 kg of granulated carbonate lime POLCALC III GENERATION. The harvested yield was 8.51 t∙ha1 of grains, which was 1.39 t∙ha1 higher than that obtained from the control plot (pH 4.7), where no lime was applied. The results obtained indicate the beneficial yield-enhancing effect of granulated carbonate lime POLCALC III GENERATION.
Fig. 1 Effect of lime on nutrient uptake (Hołubowicz-Kliza 2006)
Table 1. Effect of soil pH on plant yield (Hołubowicz-Kliza 2006)
Photo 1. Harvesting of corn from experimental plots (Research Station of the Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology in Mochełek).
