Morphological characterization of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids under excessive soil moisture stress

Abstract

A critical assessment of 32 maize hybrids with two replications for excessive soil moisture stress (ESM) was carried out during Kharif 2019-20. The plants were exposed to waterlogging stress for 12 days at the flowering stage by maintaining a water level of 3-5 cm. High genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were attained for maize plants with adventitious roots and senescence percentage after stress. High heritability along with high genetic advance was determined for number of plants with adventitious roots, senescence percentage, plant height and 100 kernel weight. Plant yield depicted a highly significant positive genotypic and phenotypic correlation with plant height, ear height, number of plants with adventitious roots and number of kernels per row, along with a significant negative correlation with senescence percentage. Kernels per row and plant height manifested the highest positive direct effect on plant yield at phenotypic and genotypic levels, respectively, reflecting that the characters can be considered for plant selection under ESM stress.

Keywords

• ESM
• Hybrids
• Morphological parameters
• Zea mays