MAIZE YIELD DETERMINANTS IN FARMER-MANAGED TRIALS IN THE NIGERIAN NORTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA

1998 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. CARSKY ◽  
S. NOKOE ◽  
S. T. O. LAGOKE ◽  
S. K. KIM
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
Maize Yield ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Local Varieties ◽  
Current Season ◽  
Damage Score ◽  
Northern Guinea Savanna ◽  
Guinea Savanna ◽  
Maize Varieties

Farmer-managed tests of Striga hermonthica-resistant maize varieties were conducted in 1994 in a moderately intensified zone in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria. Field history, soil properties, current season fertility management, and crop management observations were recorded for 37 farmer-managed trials. Site averages for maize grain yield varied from 300 to 4000 kg grain ha−1. In spite of the tremendous variability observed, the grain yield was significantly higher for the striga-resistant hybrid 8321-18 compared with an improved open-pollinated variety, STR Syn-W, and the farmers' current variety. Correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis of grain yield on measured variables suggested that maize yield was a function of plant density for all three varieties. The rate of nitrogen fertilizer application was an important variable only for the hybrid, while the day of first weeding was most important for the improved varieties. The yield of the local varieties and STR Syn-W was related to the number of emerged striga at harvest in the stepwise regression, and the yield of the local varieties was highly correlated with the striga-damage score on maize. The striga-damage score was significantly lower on 8321-18 than on the other varieties, suggesting some degree of resistance in the hybrid. The number of emerged striga was lower for the hybrid but not significantly different. Farmers were almost unanimous in ranking the hybrid as least damaged by striga and highest yielding. Besides being related to maize variety, striga-damage score was lower if crop residue was observed on the field at the time of site confirmation. Highest yields (approximately 4 t ha−1) were recorded on fields near the homestead (compound fields) where soil organic carbon values were 2.0–2.5%. Realization of maize yield potential in the absence of manure or fertilizer will only be possible on long-term compound fields. Striga-resistant maize can maintain high yields under S. hermonthica infestation.

scholarly journals Assessment of Genetic Diversity for Drought, Heat and Combined Drought and Heat Stress Tolerance in Early Maturing Maize Landraces

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelimor ◽  
Badu-Apraku ◽  
Tetteh ◽  
N’guetta
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Drought Stress ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Maize Varieties ◽  
Drought And Heat Stress

Climate change is expected to aggravate the effects of drought, heat and combined drought and heat stresses. An important step in developing ‘climate smart’ maize varieties is to identify germplasm with good levels of tolerance to the abiotic stresses. The primary objective of this study was to identify landraces with combined high yield potential and desirable secondary traits under drought, heat and combined drought and heat stresses. Thirty-three landraces from Burkina Faso (6), Ghana (6) and Togo (21), and three drought-tolerant populations/varieties from the Maize Improvement Program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture were evaluated under three conditions, namely managed drought stress, heat stress and combined drought and heat stress, with optimal growing conditions as control, for two years. The phenotypic and genetic correlations between grain yield of the different treatments were very weak, suggesting the presence of independent genetic control of yield to these stresses. However, grain yield under heat and combined drought and heat stresses were highly and positively correlated, indicating that heat-tolerant genotypes would most likely tolerate combined drought and stress. Yield reduction averaged 46% under managed drought stress, 55% under heat stress, and 66% under combined drought and heat stress, which reflected hypo-additive effect of drought and heat stress on grain yield of the maize accessions. Accession GH-3505 was highly tolerant to drought, while GH-4859 and TZm-1353 were tolerant to the three stresses. These landrace accessions can be invaluable sources of genes/alleles for breeding for adaptation of maize to climate change.

scholarly journals Tillage, <i>Desmodium intortum</i>, Fertilizer Rates for Carbon Stock, Soil Quality and Grain Yield in Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 08 (02) ◽  
pp. 325-341
Author(s):  
Odunze Azubuike Chidowe ◽  
Asholo David Blessing ◽  
Ogunwole Joshua Olalekan ◽  
Oyinlola Eunice Yetunde ◽  
Chinke Nkechi Mary
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Carbon Stock ◽  
Northern Guinea Savanna ◽  
Guinea Savanna ◽  
Fertilizer Rates

scholarly journals Evaluating Maize Genotype Performance under Low Nitrogen Conditions Using RGB UAV Phenotyping Techniques

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma. Luisa Buchaillot ◽  
Adrian Gracia-Romero ◽  
Omar Vergara-Diaz ◽  
Mainassara A. Zaman-Allah ◽  
Amsal Tarekegne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Plant Phenotyping ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Optimal Conditions ◽  
Maize Varieties ◽  
Low Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Conditions

Maize is the most cultivated cereal in Africa in terms of land area and production, but low soil nitrogen availability often constrains yields. Developing new maize varieties with high and reliable yields using traditional crop breeding techniques in field conditions can be slow and costly. Remote sensing has become an important tool in the modernization of field-based high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP), providing faster gains towards the improvement of yield potential and adaptation to abiotic and biotic limiting conditions. We evaluated the performance of a set of remote sensing indices derived from red–green–blue (RGB) images along with field-based multispectral normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD values) as phenotypic traits for assessing maize performance under managed low-nitrogen conditions. HTPP measurements were conducted from the ground and from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For the ground-level RGB indices, the strongest correlations to yield were observed with hue, greener green area (GGA), and a newly developed RGB HTPP index, NDLab (normalized difference Commission Internationale de I´Edairage (CIE)Lab index), while GGA and crop senescence index (CSI) correlated better with grain yield from the UAV. Regarding ground sensors, SPAD exhibited the closest correlation with grain yield, notably increasing in its correlation when measured in the vegetative stage. Additionally, we evaluated how different HTPP indices contributed to the explanation of yield in combination with agronomic data, such as anthesis silking interval (ASI), anthesis date (AD), and plant height (PH). Multivariate regression models, including RGB indices (R2 > 0.60), outperformed other models using only agronomic parameters or field sensors (R2 > 0.50), reinforcing RGB HTPP’s potential to improve yield assessments. Finally, we compared the low-N results to the same panel of 64 maize genotypes grown under optimal conditions, noting that only 11% of the total genotypes appeared in the highest yield producing quartile for both trials. Furthermore, we calculated the grain yield loss index (GYLI) for each genotype, which showed a large range of variability, suggesting that low-N performance is not necessarily exclusive of high productivity in optimal conditions.

Comparative Response of Conventional and Quality Protein Maize Hybrids to High Population Densities in the Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
O B Bello
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Plant Population ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Quality Protein Maize ◽  
Population Densities ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Guinea Savanna ◽  
Plant Densities

Optimum plant population is very important in enhancing high and stable grain yield especially in quality protein maize (QPM) production. A field trial was therefore conducted to compare the performance of six hybrids (three each of QPM and normal endosperm) at three population densities using a split-plot design at the sub-station of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Oke-Oyi, in the southern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria during the 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons. Plant population -1 densities (53,333, 66,666, and 88,888 plants ha ) constituted the main plots and the six hybrids were assigned to the subplots, replicated three times. Our results showed a differential response of maize -1 hybrids to high densities, with plant populations above 53,333 plants ha reduced grain yield, and this is more pronounced in QPM than normal endosperm hybrids. This is contrary to the results observed in many other countries. This might be that the hybrids were selected in low yield potential area at low plant densities, and hence not tolerant to plant density stress. It may also be due to low yield potential of the experimental site, which does not allow yield increases at high plant densities. Though normal endosperm hybrids 0103-11 and 0103-15 as well as QPM Dada-ba were superior for grain yield among -1 the hybrids at 53,333 plants ha , hybrid 0103-11 was most outstanding. Therefore, genetic improvement of QPM and normal endosperm hybrids for superior stress tolerance and high yield could be enhanced by selection at higher plant population densities.

Using the CSM–CERES–Maize model to assess the gap between actual and potential yields of grain maize

2016 ◽  
Vol 155 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. JING ◽  
J. SHANG ◽  
T. HUFFMAN ◽  
B. QIAN ◽  
E. PATTEY ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Maize Yield ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Agronomic Management ◽  
Yield Gaps ◽  
Actual Yield ◽  
N Rates

SUMMARYMaize in Canada is grown mainly in the south-eastern part of the country. No comprehensive studies on Canadian maize yield levels have been done so far to analyse the barriers of obtaining optimal yields associated with cultivar, environmental stress and agronomic management practices. The objective of the current study was to use a modelling approach to analyse the gaps between actual and potential (determined by cultivar, solar radiation and temperature without any other stresses) maize yields in Eastern Canada. The CSM–CERES–Maize model in DSSAT v4·6 was calibrated and evaluated with measured data of seven cultivars under different nitrogen (N) rates across four sites. The model was then used to simulate grain yield levels defined as: yield potential (YP), water-limited (YW, rainfed), and water- and N-limited yields with N rates 80 kg/ha (YW, N-80N) and 160 kg/ha (YW, N-160N). The options were assessed to further increase grain yield by analysing the yield gaps related to water and N deficiencies. The CSM–CERES–Maize model simulated the grain yields in the experiments well with normalized root-mean-squared errors <0·20. The model was able to capture yield variations associated with varying N rates, cultivar, soil type and inter-annual climate variability. The seven calibrated cultivars used in the experiments were divided into three grades according to their simulated YP: low, medium and high. The simulation results for the 30-year period from 1981 to 2010 showed that the average YPwas 15 000 kg/ha for cultivars with high yield potential. The YPis generally about 6000 kg/ha greater than the actual yield (YA) at each experimental site in Eastern Canada. Two-thirds of this gap between YPand YAis probably associated with water stress, as a gap of approximately 4000 kg/ha between the YWand the YPwas simulated. This gap may be reduced through crop management, such as introducing irrigation to improve the distribution of available water during the growing season. The simulated yields indicated a gap of about 3000 and 1000 kg/ha between YWand YW,N-80N for cultivars with high YPand low YP, respectively. The gap between YWand YW,N-160N decreased to <2000 kg/ha for high Ypcultivars with little difference for the low Ypcultivars. The different yield gaps among cultivars suggest that cultivars with high YPrequire high N rates but cultivars with low YPmay need only low N rates.

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