Quality Seed Production of Maize Hybrids in Northern India
Timely availability of quality seeds of maize hybrids is critical factor limiting the productivity of maize in India. The commercial hybrid seed is produced in the southern plains in the winter season and transported to northern India for cultivation in the rainy season. Maintenance of required isolations, long storage duration, and lock-in-investments deter the production of hybrid seed in the rainy season in northern India. Hence, there is a need to develop hybrid seed production package to assure availability of hybrid seed in northern and eastern plains of India. Studies on seed production of parental lines of five maize hybrids in rainy, winter and spring- summer seasons were conducted for two years in Delhi (28.4°N, 77.13°E), India. To ensure satisfactory stand establishment in the winter and spring-summer seasons, seed priming and transplanting of 21 day old seedlings, grown under protected conditions, were also attempted. Results indicated that temperature, RH and rainfall had significant influence on field emergence, early growth, flowering behaviour and seed yield. The critical minimum and optimum temperature for crop growth was 10℃ and 25～30℃ respectively. Pre-sowing seed priming (hydration 25℃/17hr) and transplanting of seedlings could alleviate the adverse effect of sub-optimal temperatures (4～10℃) prevailing in these seasons. Non-synchronization of flowering in hybrid combinations was least in rainy and maximum in the winter season. Transplanting of seedlings bridged non-synchronisation of flowering among parental lines by 4～6 days. Seed yield of winter season (6.3t/ha) was significantly higher than that of spring-summer (4.7t/ha) and rainy (4.4t/ha) seasons. Produce of all the seasons had good quality and storability up to 2～ 3 seasons (8 months).
Seed production Seed quality Pre-sowing treatment Transplanting Parental line Maize
Sudipta Basu S. P. Sharma M. Dadlani
Division of Seed Science and Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
国际会议
第九届亚洲玉米大会(the Ninth Asian Regional Maize Workshop)
北京
英文
286-289
2005-09-05（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）