Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas

The Guinea savannas of Nigeria have a high potential for the production of maize because of favorable environmental conditions. Despite this high potential, the yields obtained under farmers' conditions are still very low. Low soil fertility and intermittent drought are among major constraints limit...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kamara, A.Y., Menkir, A., Omoigui, L.O., Kureh, I.
Formato: Conference Paper
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91287
_version_ 1855516174043840512
author Kamara, A.Y.
Menkir, A.
Omoigui, L.O.
Kureh, I.
author_browse Kamara, A.Y.
Kureh, I.
Menkir, A.
Omoigui, L.O.
author_facet Kamara, A.Y.
Menkir, A.
Omoigui, L.O.
Kureh, I.
author_sort Kamara, A.Y.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Guinea savannas of Nigeria have a high potential for the production of maize because of favorable environmental conditions. Despite this high potential, the yields obtained under farmers' conditions are still very low. Low soil fertility and intermittent drought are among major constraints limiting the production of maize in the Guinea savannas of West Africa. Low soil fertility is due to soil degradation and nutrient depletion arising from intensification of land use. Nitrogen (N) is the major nutrient limiting maize production in the Guinea savannas where the use of inorganic fertilizers is low. One strategy for improving productivity of maize is to select varieties that perform well under sub-optional soil N conditions and/or tolerate intermittent drought stress. This study compared the performance under low-N conditions of maize genotypes selected for tolerance to drought with that of maize genotypes selected for tolerance to N-deficient conditions. Growth and grain yield differed significantly between the genotypes at all N levels. These variations were more pronounced at 0 and 30 kg N ha-1. The drought-tolerant genotypes and 4 maize genotypes previously selected for tolerance to N-deficient conditions performed better than the widely grown adapted genotype under 0 and 30 kg N ha-1. The drought-tolerant genotypes generally performed better than the genotypes selecetd for tolerance to low N-conditions. At 0 and 30 0 kg N ha-1, grain yield of maize decreased with advances in cycles of selection for tolerance to sub-optimal N conditions suggesting that N deficiency in the selection environment was not sufficient to discriminate among genotypes. Grain yield under N-deficient conditions was correlated with increased number of ears per plant, stay-green rating, leaf chlorophyll concentration, leaf area index, reduced anthesis-silking interval and reduced days of silking suggesting that these traits are linked to tolerance to N deficiency. The good performance of drought-tolerant varieties under sub-optimal N conditions suggests that selection for drought tolerance may confer tolerance to N-deficient conditions.
format Conference Paper
id CGSpace91287
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2007
publishDateRange 2007
publishDateSort 2007
publisher International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
publisherStr International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace912872023-02-15T06:35:02Z Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas Kamara, A.Y. Menkir, A. Omoigui, L.O. Kureh, I. maize drought ecological zones savannas soil fertility maize production The Guinea savannas of Nigeria have a high potential for the production of maize because of favorable environmental conditions. Despite this high potential, the yields obtained under farmers' conditions are still very low. Low soil fertility and intermittent drought are among major constraints limiting the production of maize in the Guinea savannas of West Africa. Low soil fertility is due to soil degradation and nutrient depletion arising from intensification of land use. Nitrogen (N) is the major nutrient limiting maize production in the Guinea savannas where the use of inorganic fertilizers is low. One strategy for improving productivity of maize is to select varieties that perform well under sub-optional soil N conditions and/or tolerate intermittent drought stress. This study compared the performance under low-N conditions of maize genotypes selected for tolerance to drought with that of maize genotypes selected for tolerance to N-deficient conditions. Growth and grain yield differed significantly between the genotypes at all N levels. These variations were more pronounced at 0 and 30 kg N ha-1. The drought-tolerant genotypes and 4 maize genotypes previously selected for tolerance to N-deficient conditions performed better than the widely grown adapted genotype under 0 and 30 kg N ha-1. The drought-tolerant genotypes generally performed better than the genotypes selecetd for tolerance to low N-conditions. At 0 and 30 0 kg N ha-1, grain yield of maize decreased with advances in cycles of selection for tolerance to sub-optimal N conditions suggesting that N deficiency in the selection environment was not sufficient to discriminate among genotypes. Grain yield under N-deficient conditions was correlated with increased number of ears per plant, stay-green rating, leaf chlorophyll concentration, leaf area index, reduced anthesis-silking interval and reduced days of silking suggesting that these traits are linked to tolerance to N deficiency. The good performance of drought-tolerant varieties under sub-optimal N conditions suggests that selection for drought tolerance may confer tolerance to N-deficient conditions. 2007 2018-03-06T15:08:16Z 2018-03-06T15:08:16Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91287 en Limited Access International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Kamara, A.Y., Menkir, A., Omoigui, L.O. & Kureh, I. (2007). Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas. In Fifth biennial regional maize workshop: demand-driven technologies for sustainable maize production in West and Central Africa (pp. 180-193), 3-6 May, Cotonou, Benin.
spellingShingle maize
drought
ecological zones
savannas
soil fertility
maize production
Kamara, A.Y.
Menkir, A.
Omoigui, L.O.
Kureh, I.
Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas
title Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas
title_full Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas
title_fullStr Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas
title_full_unstemmed Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas
title_short Potential of drought-tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen-deficient soils of the Guinea savannas
title_sort potential of drought tolerant maize varieties in nitrogen deficient soils of the guinea savannas
topic maize
drought
ecological zones
savannas
soil fertility
maize production
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91287
work_keys_str_mv AT kamaraay potentialofdroughttolerantmaizevarietiesinnitrogendeficientsoilsoftheguineasavannas
AT menkira potentialofdroughttolerantmaizevarietiesinnitrogendeficientsoilsoftheguineasavannas
AT omoiguilo potentialofdroughttolerantmaizevarietiesinnitrogendeficientsoilsoftheguineasavannas
AT kurehi potentialofdroughttolerantmaizevarietiesinnitrogendeficientsoilsoftheguineasavannas