Multi-environment field testing to identify better performing and stable genotypes for water logging stress tolerance in tropical maize

Abstract

Maize is the third most important cereal crop after wheat and rice in the world. Nearly 80 per cent of maize in India is grown under rainfed ecology. In the era of climate change, its production and productivity are limited by several biotic and abiotic stresses. Amongst the abiotic stresses, drought and water logging stresses are the major one. Considering it, the current study was carried out to evaluate and select water logging tolerant genotypes suitable for stress-prone ecology. A set of 70 maize varieties consisting of 61 single cross hybrids and 09 composites of late-medium duration and 13 single cross hybrids of early duration were evaluated in two separate trials at three different environments. Two same sets were constituted in each trial for evaluation one under water logging stress and another as control set where no water stress was imposed. The overall grain yield under stress conditions in different environments was varied from 4806.7 to 1715.4 kg/ha in late-medium trials and 3727.2 to 1418.3 kg/ha in early. Similarly, the yield under nonstress was varied from 5949.3 to 2926.3 kg/ha in latemedium and 5324.0 to 2873.2 in early duration trials. The analyses done using the Additive Main effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) model, has differentiated the test genotypes based on their performance and interaction with the target environments. Based on AMMI selection, in the late-medium group, three hybrids, such as IMH 1527, DMRH 1419 and CMH-08-292 (yielded > 5000 kg/ha) and in the early, VMH 51 and IMH 1533 (> 4000 kg/ha) were repeatedly found in first four selection in more than one environments. Further, tolerant hybrids of medium duration were validated by planting in large plots size under water logged and control conditions with respect to the susceptible one. The non-significant yield reduction ranging from 5.7 per cent to 12.8 per cent was observed in the tolerant hybrids, however in susceptible, it was highly significant ranging from 64.9 per cent to 82.1 per cent. The anatomical study showed a sufficient number of well-developed aerenchymatous cells in the roots tissues of tolerant hybrids under water stress conditions. The identified tolerant hybrids can be explored in stress-prone ecologies and can be used as source germplasm for further diversification of water logging stress breeding programme.