Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

The Guinea savannas of Nigeria have a high potential for the production of maize because of favourable environmental conditions. Despite this high potential, the yields obtained in farmers' fields are still very low. This is due to soil degradation and nutrient depletion arising from intensification...

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Autores principales: Kamara, A., Menkir, A., Ajala, S.O., Kureh, I.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2005
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/96518
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author Kamara, A.
Menkir, A.
Ajala, S.O.
Kureh, I.
author_browse Ajala, S.O.
Kamara, A.
Kureh, I.
Menkir, A.
author_facet Kamara, A.
Menkir, A.
Ajala, S.O.
Kureh, I.
author_sort Kamara, A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Guinea savannas of Nigeria have a high potential for the production of maize because of favourable environmental conditions. Despite this high potential, the yields obtained in farmers' fields are still very low. This 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 the productivity of maize is to select varieties that perform well under suboptimal soil N conditions. This study assessed the performance of diverse maize germplasm under a range of N levels. Growth and grain yields differed significantly between the genotypes at all N levels. These variations were more pronounced at zero and 30 kg N ha−1 than at 90 kg N ha−1. Grain yield under N-deficient conditions was correlated with an increased number of ears per plant, stay-green rating, leaf chlorophyll concentration, leaf area index, reduced anthesis–silking interval and reduced days to silking suggesting that these traits are linked to tolerance to N deficiency. One hybrid (Oba Super 2), the drought-tolerant genotypes and four maize genotypes previously selected for tolerance to N-deficient conditions performed better than the widely grown adapted controls under zero and 30 kg N ha−1. At zero N, the grain yield of maize decreased with advances in cycles of selection for tolerance to suboptimal N conditions suggesting that N deficiency in the selection environment was not sufficient to discriminate between genotypes. The good performance of drought-tolerant varieties under suboptimal N conditions suggests that selection for drought tolerance may confer tolerance to N-deficient conditions.
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spelling CGSpace965182025-11-11T10:43:50Z Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria Kamara, A. Menkir, A. Ajala, S.O. Kureh, I. maize genotypes drought tolerance savannas nitrogen deficiencies The Guinea savannas of Nigeria have a high potential for the production of maize because of favourable environmental conditions. Despite this high potential, the yields obtained in farmers' fields are still very low. This 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 the productivity of maize is to select varieties that perform well under suboptimal soil N conditions. This study assessed the performance of diverse maize germplasm under a range of N levels. Growth and grain yields differed significantly between the genotypes at all N levels. These variations were more pronounced at zero and 30 kg N ha−1 than at 90 kg N ha−1. Grain yield under N-deficient conditions was correlated with an increased number of ears per plant, stay-green rating, leaf chlorophyll concentration, leaf area index, reduced anthesis–silking interval and reduced days to silking suggesting that these traits are linked to tolerance to N deficiency. One hybrid (Oba Super 2), the drought-tolerant genotypes and four maize genotypes previously selected for tolerance to N-deficient conditions performed better than the widely grown adapted controls under zero and 30 kg N ha−1. At zero N, the grain yield of maize decreased with advances in cycles of selection for tolerance to suboptimal N conditions suggesting that N deficiency in the selection environment was not sufficient to discriminate between genotypes. The good performance of drought-tolerant varieties under suboptimal N conditions suggests that selection for drought tolerance may confer tolerance to N-deficient conditions. 2005-04 2018-08-09T09:49:30Z 2018-08-09T09:49:30Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/96518 en Open Access application/pdf Cambridge University Press Kamara, A.Y., Menkir, A., Ajala, S.O. & Kureh, I. (2005). Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria. Experimental Agriculture, 41(2), 199-212.
spellingShingle maize
genotypes
drought tolerance
savannas
nitrogen
deficiencies
Kamara, A.
Menkir, A.
Ajala, S.O.
Kureh, I.
Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
title Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
title_full Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
title_fullStr Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
title_short Performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
title_sort performance of diverse maize genotypes under nitrogen deficiency stress in the northern guinea savanna of nigeria
topic maize
genotypes
drought tolerance
savannas
nitrogen
deficiencies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/96518
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AT ajalaso performanceofdiversemaizegenotypesundernitrogendeficiencystressinthenorthernguineasavannaofnigeria
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