Maize is the staple food crop in hilly areas of Nepal.
Drought stress is one of the most important crop growth limiting factors
leading to lower crop productivity in these areas. Maize seedlings are
susceptible to drought stress. Nine lines (Arun-2, NML-1, Rampur Composite,
RL-100, RL-105, Rl-106, RL-197, RML-18 and RML-8) of maize obtained from
National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal to study their
tolerance to drought stress. An experiment was designed to study their drought
tolerance by subjecting to four levels of osmotic potential (0, -5, -10 and -15
bar) induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 in two factor completely
randomized design with three replication at Biotechnology Division, National
Agricultural Research Institute, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal. Effects of
different levels of PEG 6000 were found significant on all traits studied viz.
Germination rate (%), Speed of germination, Root length, Shoot length, Root
Shoot ratio, Seedling length, Seedling fresh weight, Seedling dry weight and
Vigor index. Line Arun-2 was recorded as best performer followed by Rampur
Composite and RL-105 for all the traits analyzed. Lines RL-100, RL-106, RL-197,
RML-18 and RML-8 showed poor performance under the same levels of PEG induced
drought stress. Furthermore, the results also showed that maize manifests
better genetic expression such as drought tolerance under severe moisture
stress conditions in soil. Therefore, Lines Arun-2, Rampur Composite and RL-
105 are suggested for varietal improvement program for drought stress conditions.
Maize is the staple food
crop in hilly areas of Nepal. Drought stress is one of the most important crop
growth limiting factors leading to lower crop productivity in these areas.
Maize seedlings are susceptible to drought stress. Nine lines (Arun-2, NML-1,
Rampur Composite, RL-100, RL-105, Rl-106, RL-197, RML-18 and RML-8) of maize
obtained from National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal to study
their tolerance to drought stress. An experiment was designed to study their
drought tolerance by subjecting to four levels of osmotic potential (0, -5, -10
and -15 bar) induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 in two factor completely
randomized design with three replication at Biotechnology Division, National
Agricultural Research Institute, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal. Effects of
different levels of PEG 6000 were found significant on all traits studied viz.
Germination rate (%), Speed of germination, Root length, Shoot length, Root
Shoot ratio, Seedling length, Seedling fresh weight, Seedling dry weight and
Vigor index. Line Arun-2 was recorded as best performer followed by Rampur
Composite and RL-105 for all the traits analyzed. Lines RL-100, RL-106, RL-197,
RML-18 and RML-8 showed poor performance under the same levels of PEG induced
drought stress. Furthermore, the results also showed that maize manifests
better genetic expression such as drought tolerance under severe moisture
stress conditions in soil. Therefore, Lines Arun-2, Rampur Composite and RL-
105 are suggested for varietal improvement program for drought stress conditions.
Primary Language | English |
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Journal Section | Research Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | April 22, 2019 |
Submission Date | June 11, 2018 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 6 Issue: 2 |