Vranje – This year's harvest of corn, which was this spring sown in an area of 10.500 acres, began in some municipalities of Pcinj district. The Agricultural Advisory Office of Pcinj district says that good weather in recent days reduced the percentage of moisture in the soil, so that the pickers entered the fields with any problems, while the harvest takes place without interruption.
The yields of early maize varieties, which are normally lower than that of the late varieties, are about 5.5 tons per hectare, which confirms the prediction that this year’s crop will be a record one, unprecedented in the last few years. Frequent rains in recent months slowed the ripening stage of late hybrids and filled clips with moisture, so that the harvest of late hybrids is postponed until such time as the moisture in the grain goes down to about 20-24 %.
Most farmers in Pcinj district, who planted late varieties, plan to start the harvest next week, because the moisture content is extremely high, ranging up to 30 %, while there was an outbreak of diseases and germination of grains in some areas. If the good weather stabilizes, the end of corn harvest could be expected by the end of October, so that the average yield, according to early indicators, should be about 7 tons of dry grain per hectare.
For sowing wheat, we should “free” the area under maize, or pick the corn and prepare the fields, and such a late harvest won’t allow it, for the corn crop seeding precedes wheat, for which the optimum period for sowing begins today.
Source: Jugmedia and Coordination Body
