Average maize yields have increased steadily over the years in the USA and yet the variations in harvestable yield have also markedly increased. Much of the increase in yield variability can be attributed to (1) varying environmental stress conditions; (2) improved nitrogen inputs and better weed control; and (3) continuing sensitivity of different maize lines to the variation in input supply, ...

Seed production of farmers preferred improved maize varieties under community based seed production(CBSP) group initiated in the hills of Nepal under Hill Maize Research Project in 2000. Trained members of the community group produce improved seeds identified through participatory varietal selection procedures. Despite quantum jump in maize seed production, 14 tons by 7 CBSP groups in 2000 to 1...

The lack of land ownership can discourage agricultural technology adoption, yet there is scarce evidence of the impact of land rental contracts on the adoption of improved crop varieties in developing countries. The current study investigates such impact using a nationally representative survey of Ethiopian maize farmers. In contrast to many previous studies, we show in a simple model that cash...

The Bt11 maize-specific qualitative detection method based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the JAS analytical test handbook has been widely used for administrative monitoring of GM crops and quality control of commercially distributed grains. In the present investigation, some apparently false-positive detections were observed in assays using the Bt11 maize-specific method, and these erro...

Maize is a globally important food, feed crop and raw material for the food and energy industry. Plant architecture optimization plays important roles in maize yield improvement. PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins are important for regulating auxin spatiotemporal asymmetric distribution in multiple plant developmental processes. In this study, ZmPIN1a overexpression in maize increased the number of late...

The Asian green revolution trebled grain yields through agrochemical intensification of monocultures. Associated environmental costs have subsequently emerged. A rapidly changing world necessitates sustainability principles be developed to reinvent these technologies and test them at scale. The need is particularly urgent in Africa, where ecosystems are degrading and crop yields have stagnated....

Low temperature at stand establishment and high temperature at reproductive stage are involved in reduction of grain yield of spring maize. A field study was therefore conducted to evaluate different physiological strategies for improving performance of spring maize under temperature extremes. Seed priming and foliar spray with 3% moringa leaf extract (MLE) and 100 mg L-1 kinetin solution alone...

ABSTRACT Five tropical maize lines were tested and compared with the susceptible control line B73 for resistance to Maize stripe virus (MStV) and Maize mosaic virus (MMV), both propagatively transmitted by the planthopper Peregrinus maidis (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Resistance to each virus was evaluated separately by artificial inoculations with planthoppers viruliferous for either one virus or...

Modern crops have usually experienced domestication selection and subsequent genetic improvement (post-domestication selection). Chinese waxy maize, which originated from non-glutinous domesticated maize (Zea mays ssp. mays), provides a unique model for investigating the post-domestication selection of maize. In this study, the genetic diversity of six key genes in the starch pathway was invest...