The Korean Journal of Crop Science 한국작물학회지 ISSN:0252-9777(Print) 2287-8432(Online)

This study evaluated the ecological characteristics related to spike heading time of three Korean foxtail millet cultivars, i.e., one early and two late maturities, and a finger millet cultivar in the north-central region of the Korean Peninsula, Kangwon Province. The changes in heading time occurred due to the changes in planting time from mid-May to late June. The heading time of the early-maturity cultivars was early August, with 80 days required for heading (DH) for the mid-May planting; late August, with 65 DHs for the late June planting; and mid-late August, with 100 DHs and mid-October, with 65 DHs, respectively, for the late-maturity cultivars. The accumulated temperature at heading time ranged from 1,700℃ of mid-May planting to 1,500℃ of late June planting in the early-maturity cultivars. In contrast, it ranged from 2,100℃ to 1,900℃ in the late-maturity cultivars. The photoperiod at heading time ranged from 14.0 h to 13.2 h in the early-maturity cultivars, whereas it was from 13.2 h to 12.5 h in the late-maturity cultivars. Considering that the limiting heading time of Korean foxtail millet and finger millet in the northern region of Kangwon Povince is late August, the limiting accumulated temperature at the heading time was evaluated to be approximately 1,500℃ and 2,000℃ for early and late-maturity cultivars, respectively. The mean daily temperature from planting to heading time showed a negative correlation with the DH, which was shortened with the increase in mean daily temperature. This suggests that delaying the planting time from May to June in the north-central region of the Korean Peninsula increases the mean daily temperature during vegetative growth periods, resulting in the decrease of the DH and the accumulated temperature.