The trials, to start in Canterbury this month, would ultimately help growers get even more out of one of the most important annual crops, Plant Breeders and Research Association (PBRA) general manager Thomas Chin said.
Growers needed better data to keep improving the estimated 70,000 hectares of maize sown throughout the country each year, he said.
The trials were an industry-good effort jointly run by the PBRA and the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR).
They were planted at research stations and onfarm in Canterbury, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Manawatu so hybrid performance and yields could be recorded under commercial farming conditions.
Yield and quality were key performance indicators for farmers, researchers and participating maize seed companies but those running the programme also evaluated several other important attributes including how different cultivars performed in different growing environments, Chin said.
Nearly all maize planted in New Zealand was hybrid seed and the goal of the trials was to provide farmers all over the country with independently verified hybrid information.
In Canterbury the trials would be planted in October as soils reached ideal temperatures and to take advantage of spring rain.
PBRA president Tom Bruynel said the trials were an excellent vehicle for testing the improved performance of various hybrids in regions under different growing environments.
Maize was a key crop and its importance in the market had been growing steadily in recent years.
Statistics NZ estimated the area of maize planted was about 70,000ha with an annual grain harvest of 226,000 tonnes plus more than a million tonnes of silage.
Results of the latest Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI) survey of maize growers showed average yields from the 2016 harvest were 11.8 t/ha for maize grain and 21t DM/ha for maize silage.
The PBRA also administered other industry-good trial systems including the cereal performance trials for wheat and barley and the national forage variety trials for pasture grasses.
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Results data from the second year trials was published in August. More details can be found here.
