Agro morphological characterization of fifteen (15) new lines of yellow maize obtained after gamma irradiation of seeds of the EV8728 variety in Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the cereals with many economic and nutritional interests. However, maize cultivation faces the challenges of climate change. This phenomenon leads to the soils unproductivity and many crops including maize. Thus, to address this problem, fifteen new yellow maize lines were evaluated in the field on the basis of their agromorphological characteristics (pre-flowering and flowering). Descriptive analysis of the collected data revealed significant diversity among the studied lines. Thus, based on growth parameters, lines L95A, L95B, L30, L72A and L91 showed large growth with larger photosynthetic area compared to control line (L1). In contrast, lines L48 and L54 showed small size and shape. Regarding flowering parameters, lines L48 and L54 showed a very late inflorescence (62 days on average for both organs) compared to 50 days for the early lines (L99, L89, L1, L95B and L95A). The inflorescence of the other lines is intermediate. The time of appearance of 50% pollen and silk varied (1 to 3 days) from one lineage to another and on the same plant (monoecious plant). The silk and panicle of lines were dominated by purple and green color, respectively. The majority of lines had spikes well covered by the spathes except for lines L46, L99 and L72A where the spike tip remained open revealing the spike grains. The roots are mostly stilt type (adventive) with two insertion nodes (underground and above ground).