The performance of new early maturing pro-vitamin A maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids in the derived savanna agro-ecology of Nigeria

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple food for millions of people across the globe, and it supplies more than 30% of total dietary calories. However, the normal endosperm lacks a sufficient quantity of the nutritive precursor of vitamin A. To achieve food security and avert malnutrition, there is a need to adopt the cultivation of the early multiple stress-tolerant pro-vitamin A maize hybrid. The objective of this study was to assess the agronomic performance and yield of the newly developed maize hybrids. Fifteen improved maize hybrids and one commercial hybrid used as a local check were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with two replications for two years at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching and Research farm in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Hybrids exhibited significant variation (P < 0.01) for grain yield, number of days to anthesis and silking, ear height and husk cover. Across the years, the grain yield of hybrids ranged between 4,780.8 kg ha?1 (PVAEH-19) and 7,886.9 kg ha?1 (PVAQEH-1), with a mean of 6,354.2 kg ha?1. PVAEH-15 ranks the best on the basis of superiority in grain yield, early flowering and tight husk cover. Fourteen hybrids out-yielded the local check (4,947.2 kg ha-1), and five hybrids had a significant (P < 0.05) yield advantage of > 26% over the local check. The consistent performance of PVAEH-15 and PVAEH-16 in the two years of evaluation indicates potential for the adaptability of the hybrids to the agro-ecology. Farmers? adoption of these maize hybrids will boost maize production and prevent malnutrition in the derived savanna agro-ecology of Nigeria.

Phenotypic performance of new pro-vitamin A maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids using three selection indices

“…to construct the rank summation index (Rsi), rank attached to each maize hybrid for each trait in favourable order was summed (Mulamba & Mock 1978;kolawole et al 2021) resulting in the following:…”

Farmers’ Appraisal on Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.)] Production and Phenotypic Characterization: A Synergistic Approach for Improvement

“…Pearson correlation was performed using PROC CORR function in SAS to determine the relationship among the measured traits. A rank summation index (RSI) ( Mulumba and Mock, 1978 ; Kolawole et al, 2021 ) was constructed to create the aggregate trait by ranking accessions based on number of days to first flower, stem girth, and pod girth. Ranks were summed for each accession to select the top and bottom five.…”