PJB-2023-618
MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MAIZE HYBRIDS AND THEIR IRON EFFICIENCY ON CALCAREOUS SOILS
Chitdeshwari
Abstract
Maize (Zea mays L.) is known as the queen of cereals and is the third most cultivated cereal crop in the world after wheat and rice. Soil calcareousness is one of the major growth limiting factor resulted in drastic reduction in plant growth and yield in many arid and semiarid regions globally. This study aimed to know the variability in morphological and physiological traits among maize hybrids and their iron (Fe) efficiency on calcareous soils. Five ruling maize hybrids [COH (M) 6, COH (M) 7, COH (M) 8, CO H (M) 9 and COH (M) 10] and their six inbreds [UMI 1200, UMI 1201, UMI 1205, UMI 1210, UMI 1220 and UMI 1230] were evaluated on three calcareous soils having various free CaCO3 content (6.23 to 17.3%) with and without Fe supply. Soil calcareousness reduced the morphological and photosynthetic parameters of all the maize hybrids and the reduction was more in highly calcareous soils (17.3%). Significant variation in Fe efficiency among maize hybrids was observed and shows good association with physiological and photosynthetic characteristics. The maize hybrids COH (M) 6, COH (M) 8 and COH (M) 7 recorded higher growth attributes, photosynthetic parameters and active Fe content with better Fe efficiency. Poor growth, photosynthetic parameters and Fe efficiency was noted with the inbreds UMI 1230 and UMI 1220. The study showed that maize hybrids and their inbreds were sensitive to higher soil calcareousness but the magnitude of differences varied with genotypes.
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