Abstract

Considering the little amount of research on this crop in Iran and especially in Kermanshah, this paper was devoted to its study. In order to study the effect of sowing date and water stress on yield and yield components and seed sugar content in sweet corn cv.SC403, an experiment was conducted in the research farm and laboratories of the department of agronomy and plant breeding at Razi University, Kermanshah, in 2008. This investigation was performed as a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The sowing date factor included four dates (4 May, 24 May, 13 June and 3 July) and three levels of water stress (control, moderate and severe water stress). The accumulated evaporation included: 70 (control), 120 (moderate water stress) and 170 (severe water stress) from evaporation pan class A. With respect to the results of this experiment, if the purpose in sowing of sweet corn is quantitative yield, the 3^rd of July under no water stress treatment (control) will be the best date (8547.2 kg ha^-1). The sowing date of 3^rd July and the moderate water stress treatment did not have significant effect on quantitative yield. Thus, in arid and semi arid areas such as Kermanshah where water saving is important, this sowing date maybe very useful for water saving. But if the purpose is to have high qualitative yield in sweet corn (seed sugar), the sowing date of 4 May under severe water stress (1.48% sucrose) maybe the best choice.

Key words: Seed sugar content, sowing date, sweet corn, water stress, yield components.