35 Pages, Chapter 1-5
Ms Word
08062235854
Zea mays is one of the most important cereal crops of the world grown in the irrigated and raw fed area, belonging to the family Gramineae. This plant is the major important cereal being cultivated in the rain forest and derived savannah zone of Nigeria. A trial was conducted in the breeding nursery at the Southern farm in the Institute of Agriculture Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation Ibadan, in other to test for yield, disease tolerance and agronomic characters of some inbred maize varieties. 3-4 seeds of twelve new open pollinated white maize varieties available as commercial inbred were planted respectively, at a planting space of 75cm inter row spacing and 50cm intra row spacing, which was later thinned to two plant per stand. Agronomic characters such as 50% tasseling, 50% silking, root lodging, stalk lodging, husk cover, plant height, ear height, plant aspect and ear aspect were measured at the end of the research which lasted for four months. Diseases such as ear rot, maize streak, curvularia spp, maize rust, and maize blight were observed to the one with the highest grain yield. The maize was harvested and dried manually and the total yield was recorded. All data collected were subjected to statistical analysis of variance using PROC GLM model of SAS to compute mean square values for each characters.
Key word: S3 lines, agronomic characters, disease tolerance, yield potential, Zea mays.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Origin and distribution of zea mays
1.2 Biology of maize
1.3 Structure and physiology of maize
1.4 Types of maize
1.5 Varieties of maize available in Nigeria
1.6 Nutritional value of maize
1.7 Medicinal value of maize
1.8 Economic importance of maize
1.9 Maize improvement
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Climatic requirements for maize growth
2.2 Maize as a staple food
2.3 Open pollinated white inbred maize
2.4 Major disease and insect pests
CHAPTER THREE: MATERIAL AND METHODS / METHODOLOGY
3.1 Site description
3.2 Materials
3.3 Experimental design
3.4 Data collection
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1 50% Tasseling
4.2 50% Silking
4.3 Root Lodging
4.4 Stalk Lodging
4.5 Husk Cover
4.6 Plant Height (CM)
4.7 Ear Height (CM)
4.8 Plant Aspect
4.9 Ear Aspect
4.10 Diseases
4.10.1 Ear rot
4.10.2 Maize streak virus
4.10.3 Curvularia spp
4.10.4 Maize Rust:
4.10.5 Helaunthosporum spp (Maize blight)
4.10.6 Grain yield (t/ha)
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 Discussion
5.2 Conclusion
References
