Evaluation on Plant Performance and Yield of Five Waxy Maize (Zea mays) Varieties in Yezin Area, Myanmar

Abstract

Waxy or glutinous maize (Zea mays L. var. ceratina) is a traditional vegetable, and it is consumed like sweet maize as cooked green ears. It is grown as cash crop and market share of waxy maize in the seed industry has increased. Seed companies in Southeast Asia have shown interests in improving quality of waxy maize and develop new varieties. Moreover, the need for hybrid waxy maize is important to improve waxy maize production in Myanmar. However, the report and information about the most suitable hybrid waxy maize varieties together with morphology and physiological properties are still scarcity in the study area. The experiment was carried out to study morphological characters, yield and yield components of two new waxy maize varieties by comparing with market availabel waxy maize varieties. The experiment was conducted with randomized complete block design with four replications. Based on the result, the higher yield of new waxy maize varieties related with longer row length, wider ear diameter, higher number of rows per ear and kernels per row. Ear height and plant height at harvest were also high in the two new waxy maize varieties. Furthermore, high leaf area index, crop growth rate, leaf area ratio and leaf area duration values were also related with high yield. Physiological traits such as photosynthesis rate, high SPAD value (the leaf greenness) were related with high yield.