Yield and quality of silage of diploid variety "Raduga" and tetraploid variety "Tetrasil" depending on the method of their preservation

Background. In global hybrid corn breeding, only cultivars and hybrids with a diploid (2n) genome are used. The present research for the first time compared the yield of leaf and stem mass and silage quality of tetraploid (4n) corn with those of diploid corn. Materials and Methods. Silages from the leaf-stem mass of the diploid corn cultivar ‘Raduga’ and tetraploid cultivar ‘Tetrasil’ of waxy maturity, treated with AiBi® Lb 15.10 F and BIO-SIL preservatives, have been analyzed. Silage from diploid and tetraploid corn without preservatives served as a control. Silage quality was determined on days 14, 30, and 60 in triplicate. Phenotyping of diploid and tetraploid corn accessions was conducted under agroclimatic conditions of Saratov city at 51°32′ N and Prokhladny town at 43°45′ N in Russia in 2022/2023. Results. Tetraploid corn plants significantly differ from those of diploid corn in leaf and stem yield (2.4 times higher), dry matter content (2 times), and grain protein content. After 60 days of ensiling, silage from diploid corn is inferior to that from tetraploid corn in terms of Nitrogen-free extractives (NFES) content and acidity (pH), but has superior protein, fat, ash, and fiber content. The biopreservatives AiBi 15.10 F and BIO-SIL used in the experimental variants significantly improved the quality indicators after 30 and 60 days of ensiling for all components in diploid and tetraploid corn silages. Cv. ‘Tetrasil’ does not yield mature grain in northern climates, therefore its use in this zone is limited to silage production. Discussion. It is possible that these differences between the two cultivars are due to a later maturity group or a higher amylopectin starch content in the grain of cv. ‘Tetrasil’ cultivar compared to that of cv. ‘Raduga’, which is better adapted to the agroclimatic conditions of the Saratov Region and contains less amylopectin than ‘Tetrasil’. Conclusions. Cv. ‘Tetrasil’ has advantages over cv. ‘Raduga’ in terms of green mass yield when grown in the agroclimatic conditions of the Saratov Region, and in some quality indicators of silage with and without the use of preservatives. Tetraploid corn produces high-quality silage similar in quality to that produced from diploid corn.

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