Planting Density Tolerance of High-Yielding Maize and the Mechanisms Underlying Yield Improvement with Subsoiling and Increased Planting Density

Round  1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

I revised the manuscript “Planting Density Tolerance of High-Yielding Spring Maize and the Mechanisms Underlying Yield Improvement by Subsoiling and Increasing Planting-Densities” submitted to the Agronomy Journal. The paper is interesting. However, I have some concerns, which need to be addressed.

Please use "ha" instead of "hm²".

Please use the unit format with a superscript, e.g. "plants · ha^-1", "kg · ha^-1", "t · ha^-1", etc.

Introduction

-          I suggest that the authors explain in the introduction and abstract, whether cultivated maize varieties were intended for grain or for silage. 

-          Line 56. What structural features of the improved maize varieties are indicative of high plant tolerance for growing in an increased density? What changes in agrotechnics require those varieties? 

Materials and methods

-          Line 124, 125. Please assign a number to the equation and format as required in the file “agronomy-template.dot” in section 3.3. Formatting of Mathematical Components. 

-          A big disadvantage of the work is too short period of experiment. For agricultural experiments, a 3-year test cycle is usually accepted. Two-year studies can be treated as pilot studies. 

-          I suggest to additionally add a map, which shows a location of the area where experiment was conducted. 

-          Please add information about the form of elements of soil fertility. Is it P₂O₅ or P? K₂O or K? 

-          On what soil were field experiments carried out? 

-          I suggest adding information about meteorological conditions in two analysed growing seasons. 

-          Have control plots been used? If so, which varieties were sown and how were they carried out? 

-          Please complete the data by approximate date of the collection of samples submitted for laboratory analysis. 

Results

-        Line 342, 343, 354, 355, 366, 378, . Please assign a number to the equation and format as required in the file “agronomy-template.dot” in section 3.3. Formatting of Mathematical Components.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

The manuscript entitled "Planting density tolerance of high-yielding spring maize and the mechanisms underlying yield improvement by subsoiling and increasing planting densities" attempts to improve our understanding of the influence of various management practices on planting density. It has the potential to bridge the gap in our current knowledge. However, before it is ready for publication, there are some improvements that needs to be made. For example, the manuscript title is too long, it can be shortened. Furthermore, the discussion of results is not as in-depth as expected. A little more interpretation, especially comparing and contrasting between previous studies will be helpful. Below are some more detailed comments; 

Lines 24-25: Please rephrase this statement for easy understanding.

Lines 28-29: Please write the abbreviations in full at first use.

Line 45: Please include the scientific name of maize at first use

Line 47: Please include the year for this citation (Chen et al. ...?)

Lines 66-69: Please cite these studies

Lines 107-108: Please re-write this statement to improve reader comprehension.

Lines 152-153: At what levels of significance?

Tables 1-3: Repetition in the description of levels of significance. Please delete the repetitions.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf