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**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PAST RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT CONTROLLED LEAF ORIENTATION IN CORN CAN LEAD TO INCREASED GRAIN YIELDS. WE PLAN TO DEVELOP AND TEST A PRECISION PLANTER PROTOTYPE CAPABLE OF PLANTING HYBRID CORN SEED ORIENTED IN THE SOIL SUCH THAT THE RESULTING LEAF ORIENTATION IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE ROW. WHEN LEAVES ARE SYMMETRICALLY ORIENTED ACROSS THE ROW, LIGHT INTERCEPTION IS INCREASED, PLANT POPULATIONS CAN BE OPTIMIZED FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CORN GRAIN YIELDS INCREASE. WE HAVE MULTIPLE YEARS OF DATA, IN THE GREENHOUSE AND FIELD PLOTS, WHERE MANY SPATIAL SEED PLACEMENTS HAVE BEEN EVALUATED INCLUDING COMBINATIONS OF FLAT, COTYLEDON DOWN, COTYLEDON UP, ON THE SIDE, RADICLE UP, AND RADICLE DOWN. IN THESE PREVIOUS STUDIES, CORN SEEDS PLANTED FLAT WITH THE COTYLEDON UP RESULTED IN HOMOGENOUS AND FASTER EMERGENCE, AND CORN LEAVES ALIGNED ACROSS THE ROW. SIMILAR RESULTS WERE ACHIEVED WITH CORN SEEDS PLANTED PARALLEL TO THE ROW WITH THE RADICAL DOWN. AS EXPECTED, RANDOM PLACEMENT OF CORN SEEDS RESULTED IN RANDOM ORIENTATION OF LEAVES AND LOWER EMERGENCE RATES. PLANTS THAT HAVE FIXED LEAF ORIENTATION WILL ALLOW FOR IMMEDIATE INCREASES IN CANOPY LIGHT INTERCEPTION AND AS A RESULT, POTENTIAL INCREASED GRAIN YIELDS. THESE FIXED LEAF ORIENTATIONS WILL ALSO FACILITATE PLANTING HIGHER POPULATIONS SINCE LEAVES WILL NOT OVERLAP AND AS A RESULT, INCREASED GRAIN YIELDS. SINCE THE PROOF OF CONCEPT HAS SHOWN THE ABILITY TO INCREASE YIELDS, A MECHANIZED PLANTER WOULD ALLOW MANY MORE PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP OPTIMIZED MAIZE PRODUCTION PRACTICES WITH RESPECT TO PLANT SPACING, POPULATION, WEED CONTROL, AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY.

$237,096FY2023National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater OK

Investigators

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**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PAST RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT CONTROLLED LEAF ORIENTATION IN CORN CAN LEAD TO INCREASED GRAIN YIELDS. WE PLAN TO DEVELOP AND TEST A PRECISION PLANTER PROTOTYPE CAPABLE OF PLANTING HYBRID CORN SEED ORIENTED IN THE SOIL SUCH THAT THE RESULTING LEAF ORIENTATION IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE ROW. WHEN LEAVES ARE SYMMETRICALLY ORIENTED ACROSS THE ROW, LIGHT INTERCEPTION IS INCREASED, PLANT POPULATIONS CAN BE OPTIMIZED FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CORN GRAIN YIELDS INCREASE. WE HAVE MULTIPLE YEARS OF DATA, IN THE GREENHOUSE AND FIELD PLOTS, WHERE MANY SPATIAL SEED PLACEMENTS HAVE BEEN EVALUATED INCLUDING COMBINATIONS OF FLAT, COTYLEDON DOWN, COTYLEDON UP, ON THE SIDE, RADICLE UP, AND RADICLE DOWN. IN THESE PREVIOUS STUDIES, CORN SEEDS PLANTED FLAT WITH THE COTYLEDON UP RESULTED IN HOMOGENOUS AND FASTER EMERGENCE, AND CORN LEAVES ALIGNED ACROSS THE ROW. SIMILAR RESULTS WERE ACHIEVED WITH CORN SEEDS PLANTED PARALLEL TO THE ROW WITH THE RADICAL DOWN. AS EXPECTED, RANDOM PLACEMENT OF CORN SEEDS RESULTED IN RANDOM ORIENTATION OF LEAVES AND LOWER EMERGENCE RATES. PLANTS THAT HAVE FIXED LEAF ORIENTATION WILL ALLOW FOR IMMEDIATE INCREASES IN CANOPY LIGHT INTERCEPTION AND AS A RESULT, POTENTIAL INCREASED GRAIN YIELDS. THESE FIXED LEAF ORIENTATIONS WILL ALSO FACILITATE PLANTING HIGHER POPULATIONS SINCE LEAVES WILL NOT OVERLAP AND AS A RESULT, INCREASED GRAIN YIELDS. SINCE THE PROOF OF CONCEPT HAS SHOWN THE ABILITY TO INCREASE YIELDS, A MECHANIZED PLANTER WOULD ALLOW MANY MORE PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP OPTIMIZED MAIZE PRODUCTION PRACTICES WITH RESPECT TO PLANT SPACING, POPULATION, WEED CONTROL, AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY. · GrantIndex