Abstract
Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky) is a major maize (Zea mays L.) storage insect pest in the tropics which reduces the quantity and quality of maize hence facilitating establishment of aflatoxin and other mycotoxins. The objective of this study was to evaluate maize weevil resistance on selected inbred lines. Twenty eight inbred lines with 2 checks (MTPO701-reistant and Duma 41-susceptible) were used in this experiment. Thirty unsexed adult insects were introduced into 250 ml glass jars with grains of the lines at room temperature. Evaluation of weevil damage was done at 10, 60 and 120 days after maize weevil infestation. Each category of storage period was replicated 4 times and experiment was set at the same time. Data was collected on percent weevil damage, grain weight loss and number of live and dead weevils on each inbred line. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) on weight loss. The selection of the resistant genotypes was based on percent weight loss after 60 days. Resistant lines selected included KEN2/TZL2.25# and LEPOOL-1/TZL2-2-1. These lines showed resistance to maize weevil damage and hence can be stored up to 4 months. At 120 days there was maximum damage and most lines could not be differentiated on the basis of resistance. KEN2/TZL2-2-5# showed consistency in resistance to maize weevils at all storage periods. High heritability at 60 days showed that selection for weevil resistance in these inbred lines is effective and feasible. Results in this study also revealed high, positive and significant correlation relationship between percent damage, weight loss and live weevils. The maize weevil resistant lines can be used to improve resistance of high yielding varieties in breeding programmes. Key words: Inbred lines, maize, post-harvest, resistance, Sitophillus zeamais.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important cereal crop in Kenya and is consumed in various regions (Kang’ethe, 2011; Suleiman and Kurt, 2015)
There was no significant difference among inbred lines in response to weevil damage after 10 days of storage and damage on lines was less than 1%
The highest weevil damage was recorded in ZIMLINE/MORO/BC18-1-1, TZL2/MUG1-2-4 and RF291-10-5-3-9 as they were more damaged than the susceptible check
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important cereal crop in Kenya and is consumed in various regions (Kang’ethe, 2011; Suleiman and Kurt, 2015). In most tropical countries, harvested grains are mainly stored by farmers for considerable periods in various types of storage structures made of mud, bamboo strips and plastic sacks (Bilgami and Sinha, 1987; Ranjan et al, 1992; Kumar and Kalita, 2017). These unimproved traditional storage methods inevitably provide suitable conditions for the growth of insects and microorganisms responsible for the quality loss in stored grains. The larvae feed inside the kernel and the adult eventually chew their way out of the kernels (Subramanyam and Hagstrum, 2012)
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