Source: NCSU COLLEGE OF AG & LIFE SCIENCES, 10/11/21

Higher temperatures could have detrimental effects on yields when corn plants are planted more closely together, according to a study from North Carolina State University. Corn yields in densely planted areas drop by about 1.86 percent with every 1 degree Celsius rise in monthly minimum and maximum temperatures through the planting season, the study’s models show.

Interestingly, reduced yields may be higher in conventionally bred corn than in genetically modified corn, the study models predict, suggesting that GM plants may have less need to fight for nutrients and moisture when stressed by higher temperatures.
The study’s findings could help farmers make better decisions about crop density and variety – whether conventional hybrid or GM crops – before planting season, based on forecasted temperatures.

“We wanted to learn more about how crop yield response to planting density is influenced by higher temperatures,” said Rod M. Rejesus, professor of agricultural and resource economics at NC State and the corresponding author of the study, which appears in the journal Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. “The models show that the yield benefits of crop density begin to diminish for conventional hybrid corn when temperatures rise, but GM corn yields remain relatively stable.”

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