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Introduction of new field corn - Tainung No.7'

Introduction of new field corn - Tainung No.7'

Corn is also known as maize which native to Central and South America. Corn is an important dryland crops and widely grown in Taiwan. Field corn (grain corn) can be used for many purposes such as feed, food processing or corn starch. According to the statistics survey conducted by the Agricultural and Food Agency in the past three years, the average cultivated area of field corn is 15,000 hectares, and the total yield is an average of 69,000 metric tons per year in Taiwan. The main producing areas are Tainan and Chiayi.

Council of Agriculture (COA) set up the Crop production funds and managed by Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS) to provide excellent seeds and seeding for farmers. At present, TSIPS mainly promote the seeds of dryland crops such as field corn, sorghum and green manure crops.

TSIPS indicates that the‘Tainung No.7'was bred by Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI). Before promoting the new cultivar to farmers, some characteristic was investigated such as flowering period, yield, pests and diseases. After the evaluation, the new cultivar was large-scale planted and promoted to farmers. This will have the opportunity to increase farmers’ income.   

The parents of‘Tainung No.7'was provided by TARI. TSIPS has superior seeds collection technology and the F1 seeds were produced to farmers. The characteristics of‘Tainung No.7'have strong growth potential and belong to medium and early maturity type. The growth period is about 120 days. The yield is 20% higher than ‘Tainung No.1'. The dry grain can be produced about 7,200 kg per hectare. The morphology of‘Tainung No.7'is described as follows: green color leaf the bract tightly wrapped the ear, 1-2 ears per plant, orange color kernel. The variety is suitable for large area planting

   New variety of corn were obtained through non-genetic breeding in Taiwan. The corn has improved to resistance pests and diseases, save water and easy to plant. It can be used as a crop that is activated by fallow land or the conversion of paddy fields. For providing farmers with better services and maintain good propagation systems,

Only pure and qualified seeds were check by TSIPS for sale. The 2-2.5 kg of seeds can be planted about 0.1 hectares. In addition, TSIPS provides corn seeds such as ‘Tainung No1',‘Tainan No20 'and‘Tainan No24', etc. for farmers. If farmers want to buy seeds, the service line is 04-25825437.

Figure 1. New cultivar of field corn- 'Tainung No7'
Figure 1. New cultivar of field corn- 'Tainung No7'  

Figure 2. Characteristic of field corn 'Tainung No 7'
Figure 2. Characteristic of field corn 'Tainung No 7'