107 RESEARCH ARTICLE Can Zeolite Application Decrease the Need for Nitrogen in Silage Corn? Zeynep Gül 1 * • Mustafa Tan 2 • Halil Yolcu 3 1 Atatürk University, Plant Production Application and Research Center, Erzurum/Turkey 2 Trakya University, Havsa Vocational School, Edirne/Turkey 3 Gümühane University, Kelkit Aydın Doğan Vocational Training School, Gümühane/Turkey ARTICLE INFO Article History: Received: 10.06.2020 Accepted: 23.09.2020 Available Online: 05.11.2020 Keywords: Corn Zeolite Nitrogen Silage Yield ABSTRACT The effects of applications of zeolite, nitrogen and zeolite + nitrogen on yield, quality and some morphological traits of silage corn was researched at the Research Station of the Agriculture Faculty, University of Ataturk, Eastern Turkey, during 2012 and 2013. Treatments included a control, three zeolite (Z1: 500, Z2: 1000, Z3: 1500 kg ha -1 ), three nitrogen (N1: 50, N2: 100, N3: 150 kg ha -1 ) and nine combinations of zeolite + nitrogen. The experimental design was randomized complete blocks with three replications. The application of zeolite + nitrogen application enhanced silage yield by 5.8- 18.9%, dry matter yield by 4.5-21.4%, corncob rate by 6.6%, plant height by 3.0-16.1% and leaf rate by 17.5%. Further, the application of zeolite + medium or low nitrogen application produced similar silage yield, dry matter yield, dry matter rate, crude protein content, ADF, NDF, corncob rate, stem rate, plant height and leaf rate in comparison to the highest level nitrogen application. The results indicate that the application of zeolite + nitrogen can be used to increase efficiency of nitrogen and to decrease nitrogen requirements in silage corn for yield and other parameters. Please cite this paper as follows: Gül, Z., Tan, M. and Yolcu, H. (2020). Can Zeolite Application Decrease the Need for Nitrogen in Silage Corn?. Alinteri Journal of Agriculture Sciences, 35(2): 107-113. doi: 10.47059/alinteri/V35I2/AJAS20081 Introduction In the Eastern Mediterranean regions, forage crops production areas are insufficient, as farmers prefer to grow cereal and other crops in their fields (Yolcu et al. 2009a). Subsidies given for forage production by the government to meet feed requirements led to an increase in forage production areas in Turkey in recent years (Yolcu et al., 2009b). Farmers receiving subsidies began cultivating silage corn and other forage crops (Yolcu and Tan, 2008). Silage corn is used in feed for growing animals, dry cows and lactating cows (Yolcu and Cetin, 2015) and it is an important feed source due to its high yield, energy and quality (Turgut, 2002). * Corresponding author E-mail address: zdumlu@atauni.edu.tr Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for silage corn (Sheaffer et al., 2006; Islam and Garcia, 2014) and it is the most limiting factor in terms of yield for silage corn cultivation (Safdarian et al., 2014). Increasing nitrogen doses has a positive effect on yield and quality properties of silage corn (Safdarian et al., 2014; Kaplan et al., 2016). However, intensive nitrogen use increases nitrate pollution in ground water and environmental problems caused by using large amounts of nitrogen have been detected in many areas in the European Union (Berenguer et al., 2008). Improving N efficiency (Masoero et al., 2011; Gholamhoseini et al., 2013) and reducing excess N fertilization for sustainable agricultural practices (Masoero et al., 2011) are techniques used to address these problems. Alinteri J. of Agr. Sci. (2020) 35(2): 107-113 e-ISSN: 2587-2249 info@alinteridergisi.com http://dergipark.gov.tr/alinterizbd http://www.alinteridergisi.com/ DOI: 10.47059/alinteri/V35I2/AJAS20081