Screening of Elite Maize (Zea mays L.) inbred Lines Grown under Rainfed Conditions of Eastern Uttar Pradesh for Yield, Oil and Protein content

Author: Aditya Mohan Maharishi, Shailesh Marker, Ruchi Bishnoi and Surbhi Gour

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Abstract

Rainfed maize rarely has access to enough moisture since the irregular or uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall frequently results in sporadic drought, heat, or excessive moisture/waterlogging at various crop growth stages (s). This is the main cause of the rainfed maize's relatively poor production. Therefore, to fill the research gap, the experiment was conducted on twenty-one CIMMYT-maize inbred lines, that were grown in rainfed conditions of eastern Uttar Pradesh during kharif 2021 for assessment of genetic variability, correlation, and path analysis for fifteen quantitative variables and two biochemical traits, i.e., oil and protein content. The inbred lines were examined under Randomized Block Design with three replications at Field Experimentation Center of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj. The observations and analysis of data indicated that with the exception of the number of anthesis-silking intervals, analysis of variance for all characters showed significant differences at 1% level. Genotype CML-579 depicted highest grain yield in the rainfed environment. The higher value of PCV with large difference than GCV for characters viz., like grain yield per plant, cob weight, shank weight and anthesis-silking interval, indicated that environmental factors significantly influenced the expression of these traits. High genetic advance coupled with high heritability was observed for grain yield per plant, cob weight, plant height and ear height indicating the presence of large proportion of additive genetic action deciding these traits. Correlation and path coefficient studies suggested that selection based on characters like number of kernels per row, cob girth and cob weight had positive correlation and direct effects with grain yield per plant. Hence, it can be concluded that for the improvement of CIMMYT inbred lines of maize in rainfed environment of eastern U.P., the effective selection must be attempted for the above traits.

Keywords

Variability parameters, Association analysis and Maize (Zea mays L.)

Conclusion

It is concluded that based on mean performance for grain yield and taken into characters on account, the line CML-579 followed by CML-580 and CML-563 were found best for growing under rainfed conditions of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. CML-580 showed highest oil content and HQPM-5 had highest protein content. Variance due to oil content and protein content were significant, however the effective selection can be done for oil content. Selection based on characters like cob weight, number of kernels per row, ear height, shank weight, number of kernel rows per cob, number of kernels per cob, cob girth and cob length may bring out desired improvement towards development of high yielding maize variety suitable for growing under abiotic stress.

References

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How to cite this article

Aditya Mohan Maharishi, Shailesh Marker, Ruchi Bishnoi and Surbhi Gour (2023). Screening of Elite Maize (Zea mays L.) inbred Lines Grown under Rainfed Conditions of Eastern Uttar Pradesh for Yield, Oil and Protein content. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(6): 255-265.