| dc.description.abstract | Corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the most significant cereal crops worldwide. Babycorn is
currently farmed in Kenya mostly for export markets, with a very limited quantity being
grown for local use, mostly in urban areas. Insufficient evidence-based research prevents
baby corn, which is a relatively new crop, from being transplanted at a large scale. Two
experimental studies were conducted to establish the performance of transplanted baby corn
under varying growth conditions in Meru County. The first experiment was to determine the
best baby corn transplanting stage under farmer conditions (Field and Greenhouse
conditions). The experiment was setup in a split plot randomized complete block design
(RCBD) with three replications. Two baby corn varieties (PAN 14 and Thai Gold) were
grown under 4 transplanting stages (0,200, 300 and 400 Growing degree days (GDD)) under
green house and field conditions. To determine interaction between different treatments
(plastic mulch colours and phased transplanting stages) on the performance of baby corn
plant varieties a field experiment was setup in a split-split plot RCBD design with three
replications. PAN 14 and Thai Gold were transplanted at four transplanting stages (0,200,
300 and 400 GDD) under four different plastic mulch colour (yellow, clear, black and
control). Data was collected on growth (maturity GDD and flowering height) and yield
parameters (cob length, diameter and weight). Collected data were analyzed using SAS 2007,
and means were separated by LSD test (P≤0.05). There were statistically significant
interactions (P≤0.05) observed between the transplanting stage and baby corn varieties and
mulch colour on maturity GDD, flowering height under various growing conditions. There
were no significant interactions (P>0.05) among plastic mulch colour, transplanting stages,
and varieties on cob length, cob diameter, and cob weight. However, significant interactions
were found between plastic mulch colour and baby corn varieties on cob length and cob
weight. Transplanting baby corn at 200 GDD resulted in significantly(P≤0.05) higher growth
and yield performance. Additionally, PAN 14 variety exhibited greater resilience to dynamic
growth conditions compared to Thai Gold, suggesting its suitability for field conditions.
Black plastic mulches showed significantly (P≤0.05) higher soil temperatures, followed by
transparent films, yellow films and non-mulched. Transparent plastic mulches showed the
best yield and vegetative growth for both varieties but could not effectively control weeds.
Black plastic mulches produced significantly (P≤0.05) higher yield and vegetative
performance than non-mulched, but were lower than the transparent film performance.
Additionally, black plastic mulches showed better performance. The temperature differences
between the mulch treatments were attributed to variations in solar energy reflection,
absorption, and transmission. The choice of plastic mulch colour, transplanting stages, and
varieties had significant effects(P≤0.05) on factors such as maturity height, maturity days,
and soil GDD. Yellow plastic mulch had the longest maturity period, while the control had
the longest maturity period in all transplanting stages. The study recommends that
transplanting baby corn at 200 GDD under black mulch leads to the best growth performance,
while transplanting PAN 14 baby corn variety at 200 GDD under transparent mulch was the
best in cob yields in both green house and field conditions. | en_US |
