Adaptability of silage maize in semi-arid area of Inner Mongolia

To screen out the germplasm resources of silage maize (Zea mays) with strong adaptability, high yield , and high quality in semi-arid area, the production performance , and nutritional quality of 10 silage maize varieties planted in Chifeng City, China were comprehensively evaluated using grey correlation analysis. Among the 10 silage maize varieties, ‘Yu silage 23’ had the best biomass performance, with fresh yield and hay yield of 171 085.5 and 53 720.9 kg·ha⁻¹, respectively. ‘Jingjiu silage 16’ and ‘Yu silage 23’ performed better than other varieties, with plant heights of 316.7 and 314.4 cm, respectively. The variation range of ear height was 92.0～173.9 cm. ‘XY1225’ had the highest ear position. ‘Jingke 932’ had the highest crude protein content, reaching 10.28%. ‘Tunyu 358’displayed the lowest content of neutral detergent and acid detergent fibers. ‘Tunyu 358’ and ‘Beinong silage 208’ displayed high starch contents (33.98% and 33.53%, respectively). Grey correlation analysis revealed the best comprehensive performance in the local area for ‘Tunyu 358’, ‘Beinong silage 208’, and ‘Tieyan 53’. The findings indicate that these three varieties can be used as high quality silage corn varieties to promote local planting and to overcome the problem of insufficient supply of green feed for livestock caused by dry local climate.