Photosynthetic activity of corn leaves in the central agro-climatic region of the Komi Republic

Corn is among the main crops in modern world crop production. It belongs to the group of heat-loving plants. The climate warming observed in the Northern Hemisphere in recent decades, as well as the availability of early-maturing and cold-resistant varieties and hybrids, create opportunities for growing of corn for green mass in the North. We have found that the modern corn hybrids can accumulate 350–500 centners per hectare of green mass in the central agro-climatic region of the Komi Republic. At a temperature of +20º C and the high light intensity, leaves of the cold-resistant, early-ripening hybrids Dorka and Uralskiy 150 assimilate CO2 at a rate of 20–25 μmol/m2s. The temperature optimum for photosynthesis is +18.. +28º C. The authors have concluded about the ability of early-ripening and cold-resistant corn hybrids to actively photosynthesise and yield at moderate temperatures.