Evaluation of stay green induced maize hybrids for green fodder and grain yields under variable moisture regimes

About 80% kharif area of maize cultivation in India is under rainfed condition where uncertainty of rainfall is a ubiquitous phenomenon which limiting its productivity. Primary and secondary stress responsive traits are mainly on quantitative loci, which make the direct selection of traits difficult. The present experiment aimed to identify the maize hybrids suitable for dual purpose under low moisture stress condition, identification of secondary traits associated with fodder and grain yield and calculation of correlation which could be useful for effective selection for fodder and grain yield. Using 37 maize genotypes, evaluated under 3 moisture regimes for green fodder and grain yield. Association analysis was done among the secondary traits and yield. Among the genotypes significant variability was showed for all characters. The hybrids BAUIM-2 x HKI-1532 and BAUIM3 x HKI-1532 found suitable for dual purpose exhibited maximum GFY/P under irrigated, rainfed and stress (50kPa) conditions while, hybrid BAUIM-5 x HKI-1532 found suitable for fodder yield. Hybrids BAUIM-4 x HKI-335 and BQPM-4 x HKI-1532 suitable for stress conditions. The traits stomatal frequency, stay green, tassel blast and green fodder yield per plant showed normal probability distribution; whereas, relative leaf water content, anthesis silk interval, leaf area index, leaf senescence, leaf firing, plant bareness, leaf rolling and grain yield per plant non-normal distribution. Bartlett test for homogeneity of variance was non-significant for LA-3 and LA-cob. The correlation coefficient indicated that, traits GY/P with SG (0.46); TB (−0.39); LR (−0.40); LAI (0.57), BP (−0.57). GFY/P with SG (0.48); TB (−0.39); LR (−0.41), BP (0.48) showed significant association among each other's.