Nakhon Sawan 5: Early maturity drought tolerant hybrid maize

Abstract

Research and development on hybrid maize were conducted at Nakhon Sawan Field Crops Research Center aiming to select a new variety with early maturity (95-100 days after planting), drought tolerance, high yield and major disease resistance.  Advantages of early maturing are drought escape and suitable for cropping systems. Several promising hybrids were selected for yield evaluations over major maize growing areas in Thailand. The results showed that an averaged grain yield of Nakhon Sawan 5 (NS5) was 1,190 kg/rai which was 10% higher than that of Nakhon Sawan 3 (NS3) (average of 63 trials). Under the severe water stress for one month, NS5 achieved an average grain yield of 684 kg/rai which was 21% greater than that of NS3. NS5 also showed highly resistant to foliar diseases, northern corn leaf blight, southern rust, and moderately resistant to downy mildew and maize dwarf mosaic virus. The kernel moisture content of NS5 decreased rapidly after physiological maturity, whereas its plant type still showed green.  The maturity of NS5 was 10 to 20 days earlier than commercial varieties.