To identify suitable silage maize varieties and optimal sowing dates for Aral in southern Xinjiang, 10 silage maize varieties were evaluated under three sowing date treatments (April 22, April 28, and May 6) from 2024 to 2025. Agronomic traits, yield components, and nutritional quality indices were systematically determined. Multivariate statistical methods were employed for comprehensive evaluation. The results indicated that sowing date, variety, and their interaction exerted highly significant effects on most key agronomic traits, yields, and nutritional quality indicators of silage maize (p < 0.01). The sowing date had markedly different regulatory effects on the traits studied. Sowing on April 22 was conducive to improving the yield and fiber quality of silage maize. Sowing on April 28 optimized agronomic traits, including the uppermost ear leaf area and stem diameter. Sowing on May 6 significantly increased the crude protein and starch contents of silage maize. Cluster analyses combined with membership function analysis identified Dajingjiu 26 and Yu Qingzhu 23 as varieties with consistently excellent comprehensive traits and strong adaptability to regional ecological conditions across all sowing dates. These two varieties are recommended for priority deployment in local silage maize production, combined with their corresponding optimal sowing dates, to achieve the simultaneous optimization of yield and quality. The findings provide theoretical support and practical reference for silage maize variety selection and sowing date optimization in similar climate regions.
Liu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.