Maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids varying in drought tolerance were treated with water stress in controlled environments. Experiments were performed during vegetative growth and water was withheld for 19 days beginning 17 days after sowing. Genotypic comparisons used measured changes of leaf water potential or results were expressed by time of treatment. Total dry matter of the drought tolerant hybri...

Selection of maize (Zea mays) hybrids with wide adaptability across diverse farming environments is important, prior to recommending them to achieve a high rate of hybrid adoption. Grain yield of 14 maize hybrids, tested in a randomized completeblock design with four replicates across 22 environments in Iran, was analyzed using site regression (SREG) stability model. The biplot technique facili...

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (LeConte), is a major pest of maize, Zea mays L., in the United States and Europe, and it is likely to increase in importance as a trend toward increased nonrotated maize favors larger rootworm populations. Options for rootworm management in nonrotated maize in Europe and in nontransgenic "refuge" areas in countries that permit transgeni...

Faruq Hasan M. 2008. Economic Efficiency and Constraints of Maize Production in the Northern Region of Bangladesh. j. innov.dev.strategy 1(1): 18-32 The study was conducted at the Sadar upazila of Dinajpur and Panchagarh to estimate the costs, returns and economic efficiency of maize production compared to Boro rice. The growth rate of maize in the country and constraints to maize production at...

Non-additive gene regulation has been recently suggested as an important factor promoting phenotypic variation and plasticity. In order to obtain a description of gene expression status at an early stage of ear development in a maize (Zea mays L.) F1 hybrid as relative to its parental inbreds, we compared gene expression profiles in immature ears of elite inbred lines B73 and H99 to one of thei...

In the hopes of lessening the current reliance on soil insecticides, developing a viable alternative for transgenic maize hybrids, and providing sustainable options for Europe, researchers recently have been developing novel maize lines that exhibit resistance and/or tolerance to corn rootworm larvae. Here we report the results of a 2-year field experiment in a northern growing region assessing...

The closest wild relatives of maize, Zea mays ssp. mays are various Zea taxa known as "teosinte." Hybrids between maize and the teosinte taxon, Zea mays ssp. mexicana, often occur when the 2 are sympatric in Mexico. Measuring the spontaneous hybridization rate of the 2 taxa would shed light on the mechanisms contributing to the evolution and persistence of these hybrid swarms. We conducted a se...

Two lines of Zea mays were developed as a short-generation model for maize. The Fast-Flowering Mini-Maize (FFMM) lines A and B are robust inbred lines with a significantly shorter generation time, much smaller stature, and better greenhouse adaptation than traditional maize varieties. Five generations a year are typical. FFMM is the result of a modified double-cross hybrid between four fast-flo...

The identification of parental inbred lines to develop superior hybrids is a rather costly and time-consuming step in maize breeding. In some cases, pedigree information has been used to select diverse parental lines. In the case of Iranian maize inbred lines, this information is not fully available. In this study we investigated the genetic distance (GD) based on Simple sequence Repeats (SSR) ...

Zambian farmers have extensive experience with maize hybrids and input subsidies. Like other countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, the successful development and diffusion of improved maize seed in Zambia during the 1970s and 1980s was supported by strong government commitment to parastatal grain and seed marketing and subsidized provision of services to maize growers. When this system was ...