Abstract
Maize is one of the most important cereal crops widely grown for food, feed, and fodder/forage throughout the world in a range of agroecological environments. Drought stress continues to haunt the maize farmers across south western part of Nigeria, thereby leading to low quantity of this essential staple food in the market. Efforts have been made to enhance the growths and yields in maize by investigating the influence of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Gigaspora gigantea) on the tolerance of maize to drought stress. The experiment was conducted in the teaching and research farm of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in a complete randomized design with four replicates. Data were collected on eight morphological drought related characters. The objective of this research work was to evaluate the morpho-agronomic responses and potential of Gigaspora gigantea colonization in maize drought tolerance, and also to select parents in maize breeding for improved yield related components. The combined analysis of variance showed significant (P 0.05) treatment effect on majority of the traits evaluated. The treatments of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungus (AMF) produced significant higher growth related traits suggesting that AMF treated plants had higher potential in influencing the tolerance to drought. Accession 3 was considered best for most of the traits studied and can be selected as parents in maize breeding for yield related components.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) known as corn is an important monocotyledonous plant of the family Poaceae
Maize becomes stressed by drought at the reproductive period, the development and adoption of drought-tolerant varieties are seen as a long-term solution to many of the problems plaguing drought-prone maize production regions around the globe [2]
Since water availability is variable across fields and farmers typically grow only one hybrid in a particular field, a moderate amount of drought tolerance is necessary in all maize hybrids [6]; the use of drought-tolerant cultivars may be the only economical option for many small-scale farmers [7]
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) known as corn is an important monocotyledonous plant of the family Poaceae. It is the most widely grown grain crop in the world as a direct staple food for millions of individuals and, through indirect consumption as a feed crop, is an essential component of global food security [1]-[3]. Maize becomes stressed by drought at the reproductive period, the development and adoption of drought-tolerant varieties are seen as a long-term solution to many of the problems plaguing drought-prone maize production regions around the globe [2]. The utilization of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can enhance yield stability by improving drought tolerance which can be a major solution to stabilizing global maize production. Maize agronomic responses to drought stress have been detailed in multiple review and research articles [8]-[12]
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