Twin Row Maize

The concept behind this has been been thought about for a very long time, technology and a lot of trial and error is finally starting to bear fruit and at last this technology has been successfully demonstrated in England this year

Conventional maize is typically precision drilled on 30"(75cm) rows, some countries this varies from 50cm up to 90cm row widths depending on use and machinery. Row spacings have by and large been governed by header types for harvesting grain, whilst with forage maize the Kemper type header now means that row widths are governed more by sprayer and cultivation equipment wheel widths.

It is well known that Maize does not like any competition of any sort, so placing plants close together in a single row immediately forces in-row competition on the crop for light, water and nutrients. The Twin-row system negates this by splitting the single row into two rows ten inches apart, with a twenty inch gap to the next twin row. Basically, the system still utilises the standard 30" system, just modifying it so that you end up with about 25-30% more rooting space, sunlight and water availability per plant. Or, seen from another angle, 25-30% less competition from its neighbouring plants.

The video clearly shows this to good effect.