Crop Technology, Cultivation System, and Maize Production Characteristics

The maize crop is an essential contributor to food security. At a global level, it is the cereal with the highest production, and the second imported commodity. This study evaluates the impact of precision agriculture on the morpho-productive traits and agronomic efficiency of the Turda 201 maize hybrid under distinct cultivation systems. A bifactorial field trial was conducted in Cojocna, Transylvania (Romania), using two factors: the farming system (organic vs. conventional) and the cultivation technology (standard vs. precision). The work hypothesis is that precision agriculture can enhance maize performance compared to standard methods. The results indicated that morphological traits such as plant height (197 cm), cob length (17.20 cm), and leaf number (10.60) were significantly higher in the conventional system, particularly under precision technology. In the organic system, while improvements were observed with precision input, overall growth and yield remained lower. The same trends are seen in production traits, which are lower in an organic system compared with conventional (6464.22 kg/ha vs. 9204 kg/ha, when precision technology was used). Agronomic efficiency has a spectacular increase in the conventional–precision experimental variant (4.92 kg/kg) compared with the organic–standard experimental variant (0.002 kg/kg). Crude protein, dry matter, nitrogen-free matter, and starch content are the main qualitative maize characteristics influenced by the cropping system and technology. The conventional–precision experimental variant led to the highest values of the above-mentioned parameters compared with the organic–standard experimental variant (86.90% vs. 83.60% dry matter; 10.75% vs. 8.65% crude protein; 72.60% vs. 64.40% nitrogen-free matter; 83.15% vs. 79.50% starch). Principal Component Analysis revealed that the crop system (PC1) was the dominant factor influencing morpho-productive traits, while environmental factors (PC2) contributed mainly to the variability of the characteristics. These findings support the use of precision agriculture as a tool for enhancing sustainable maize production, particularly in conventional systems.