Gains in Grain Yield of Extra-Early Maize during Three Breeding Periods under Drought and Rainfed Conditions.

ABSTRACT: Drought is a key maize (Zea mays L.) production constraint in sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen, fifteen, and twenty-five extra-early maturing maize cultivars, with varying Striga resistance and drought and low soil N tolerance, were developed from 1995 to 2000 (Period 1), 2001 to 2006 (Period 2), and 2007 to 2012 (Period 3), respectively. The objectives of this study were to examine yield gains in the cultivars and to investigate inter-trait relationships and yield stability under six drought and 17 rainfed conditions in West Africa from 2013 to 2016. Annual rate of yield increase across cultivars was 0.034 (3.28%) and 0.068 Mg ha^-1 (2.25%), whereas yield gains per period were 0.17 and 0.38 Mg ha^-1 under drought and rainfed environments, respectively. Yield

SUBMITTER: Badu-Apraku B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7680940 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature