The successful development and diffusion of improved maize seed in Zambia during the 1970s–80s was a major achievement of African agriculture but was predicated on a government commitment to parastatal grain and seed marketing, the provision of services to maize growers, and a pan-territorial pricing scheme that was fiscally unsustainable. Declining maize output when this system was dismantled ...

The objective of the current study was to apply molecular markers (microsatellites) in the analysis of genetic diversity of 48 lines of the elite maize germplasm stored in the bank of the Cooperativa Central de Pesquisa Agrícola - Coodetec, PR, Brazil, and estimate the correlation between genetic distance and heterosis and hybrid performance from the crosses among these maize lines. Forty-four ...

To examine how resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins influences movement and survival of European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis [Hübner]) neonates, the responses of Cry1Ab-resistant , -susceptible, and hybrid (F1) larvae were examined using two different techniques. First, using an automated videotracking system, aspects of O. nubilalis movement were quantified in the presence of ar...

We have investigated the role of selection in the determination of the detected levels of introgression from modern maize hybrid varieties into maize landraces still cultivated in situ in Italy. We exploited the availability of a historical collection of landraces undertaken before the introduction and widespread use of modern maize, to analyse genomic changes that have occurred in these maize ...

Identifying and using native insect resistance genes is the core of integrated pest management. In this study, 10 experimental corn, Zea mays L., hybrids and 10 inbred lines were screened for resistance to major ear-feeding insects in the southeastern Coastal Plain region of the United States during 2004 and 2005. Ear-feeding insect damage was assessed at harvest by visual damage rating for the...