article · Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences
Maize serves as a vital dietary component for both human consumption and animal feed. Evaluating how water deficits during the grain-filling stage affect its nutritional value reveals that drought significantly diminishes essential quality traits. Field trials assessing maize hybrids across two growing seasons demonstrated that water stress caused marked reductions in grain weight alongside yields of crude oil, protein, and ash. Both genetic background and environment significantly influenced all nutritional properties, including starch content. The evaluations showed significant variation in how individual hybrids responded to water shortages. Specifically, the Calgary and Sancia hybrids showed resilience by sustaining higher grain weights under drought conditions. In addition, the nutritional quality of the Calgary, 71May69, and Aaccel hybrids was less compromised by water stress, identifying specific cultivars capable of retaining quality in water-scarce conditions.
Maize is a critical staple for human diets and livestock feed worldwide, making its nutritional resilience under drought conditions essential for food security. Understanding which hybrids retain protein, oil, and yield during dry spells helps agricultural producers make informed planting choices. This ensures more reliable crop quality and farm output in drought-prone regions experiencing shifting climate and irrigation challenges.
These findings offer direct value to seed breeders, agricultural extension services, and maize growers operating in water-stressed Mediterranean environments. The results identify specific commercial hybrids capable of maintaining nutritional value and yield under irrigation deficits. Because this represents applied field research conducted on existing hybrids across two seasons, the insights are near-market and can immediately guide hybrid selection for farmers and feed manufacturers seeking drought-tolerant cultivars.
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Maize is considered one of the most essential dietary components in human food and animal feeding. The objectives of the present study were to quantify the effects of drought stress on qualitative traits of maize at grain-filling stages. Hybrids maize seeds were grown by applying full and water stress conditions during the grain filling stage. Various nutritional properties (crude oil, starch, grain protein content) were determined in 2014 and 2015 at the second crop growing season in Adana, Turkey. Based on the results of this study, genotype and environment were found to influence all quality traits significantly. Further, result of study suggest that water stress caused a significant reduction in major quality traits. Grain weight and grain quality yield as well crude oil, protein and ash yield were significantly decreased due to water deficit condition in the both growing seasons. Significant differences were observed among hybrids in respect of all measurements due to irrigation regimes. The genotypes, Sancia and Calgary were tolerant by producing higher grain weight. Accordingly, grain qualities of 71May69, Aaccel and Calgary maize hybrids were less affected under drought stress.
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DOI: 10.18006/2016.4(issue6).644.652
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