Character assessment of hybrid maize candidates tolerant to drought stress

¹ Faculty of Agriculture, University of Trunojoyo Madura, Indonesia
² Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: aamzeri@gmail.com

Abstract

Preliminary tests were carried out to determine the characteristics of candidate hybrid maize varieties compared to other varieties. This research aimed to evaluate the characteristics of 46 candidate maize hybrids. The study was conducted in Kamal sub-district, Bangkalan district, from March to June 2024. The plant material used in this research was 49 maize genotypes (46 hybrid maize candidates and three maize varieties as comparison). This research uses a simple lattice design (7x7x2). The observation parameters in this research are plant height, ear length, days to 50% tasselling, days to 50% silking, harvest age, number of kernel rows, ear diameter, ear length, kernel length, kernel width, kernel thickness, 1000-kernel weight, and production per hectare. Data were analysed using the F-test; if the treatment had a significant effect, a further test was carried out using the HSD test (α=5%). The results showed that several plant characters from the 49 genotypes tested had significant differences except for plant height and ear height characteristics. Characteristics of production per hectare were significantly and positively correlated with kernel length. G1, G2, G7, G16, G31, G32, G35, G39, and G46 are selected hybrid maize candidates for further testing in variety release because they have early and medium harvest age and high production per hectare (above 5,000 kg per hectare).