ABSTRACT
Maize should be planted only when soils are dry enough to support traffic without causing soil compaction. The yield reductions resulting from mudding the seed may be much greater than those resulting from a slight planting delay. Planting hybrids of different maturities reduces damage from diseases and environmental stress at different growth stages (improving the odds of successful pollination) and spreads out harvest time and workload. Other factors concerning hybrid maturity need to be considered when planting is delayed. For plantings in late May or later, the dry-down characteristics of hybrids should be considered. Higher heat use efficiency was recorded with the crop sown in first fortnight of June and decreased with each delay in sowing. However, at knee high stage (upto 30 DAS) higher heat units were recorded in June first fortnight sowing.
