Creole corn seed promotes increase in production and nutritional aspects in hydroponic forage

ABSTRACT The aimed of this study to assess the productivity and nutritional characteristics of hydroponic corn forage derived from bico de ouro creole seeds and AL-Bandeirante. Two treatments (T), each representing a corn seed variety, were randomly allocated to beds filled with a wood sawdust substrate: T1 (n=5) - bico de ouro creole seed variety, and T2 (n=5) - AL-Bandeirante hybrid seed variety. On the 13th day, forage was collected to assess seedling biometry, green and dry mass production, and bromatological analyses. The data were subjected to statistical analysis, with a 5% significance level. The creole seed variety yielded higher seedling height (17.53 cm), root length (10.19 cm), stem (5.37 cm), leaf (12.17 cm), and greater production of green mass (7.22 kg/m²) and dry matter (2.05kg/m²) (P<0.05). The AL-Bandeirante corn forage had higher dry matter content (39.18%), mineral matter (2.33%), non-fiber carbohydrate (31.88%), and estimated total digestible nutrients (68.14%) (P<0.05), while the creole corn forage had higher organic matter content (99.45%), ethereal extract (19.53%), neutral detergent fiber (45.56%), and cellulose (15.46%) (P<0.05). Crude protein, acid detergent fiber, and lignin were similar between the treatments (P>0.05). Despite the AL-Bandeirante variety yielding a higher concentration of certain nutrients, its forage productivity was significantly low. Therefore, under the conditions of this study, the use of the creole seed variety is recommended.