Growth, Development, Leaf Gaseous Exchange, and Grain Yield Response of Maize Cultivars to Drought and Flooding Stress

Robert Mangani, Eyob Habte Tesfamariam, Gianni Bellocchi and Abubeker Hassen
Additional contact information
Robert Mangani: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Eyob Habte Tesfamariam: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Gianni Bellocchi: INRA, VetAgro Sup, UCA, UMR 0874 Écosystème Prairial (UREP), 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Abubeker Hassen: Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: The prevalence of extreme drought and flooding is posing a threat to the food security of Sub-Saharan African countries. There are national and international calls for actions to investigate the level of resilience of existing crop cultivars to multiple abiotic stress conditions. A two-year study was carried out in South Africa to determine growth, development, yield, yield components, and physiological responses of two contrasting maize cultivars—PAN 413 (drought tolerant) and PAN 6Q-245 (drought intolerant) under drought and flooding. The drought effect on grain yield was more pronounced from mid-vegetative to tasselling stages, regardless of the cultivar with yields deviating from the control by 53–58% (2015/2016) and 34–42% (2016/2017). The effect of flooding on grain yield was pronounced at the early vegetative stage for both cultivars, with yield reductions ranging between 26–30% (2015/2016) and 15–21% (2016/2017). Results from the study indicated that existing maize cultivars (drought tolerant and drought intolerant) are both prone to likely extreme drought events experienced during the tasselling stage. Results also showed that both cultivars are prone to probable flooding events before the tasselling stage. It is recommended that plant breeders’ efforts be directed to developing maize cultivars with multiple stress tolerances.

Keywords: grain yield components; grain yield; leaf area index; photosynthesis; stomatal conductance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3492-:d:172791

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