气候变化领域集成服务门户

Climate change is threatening the productivity of cereal crops and creating food insecurity issues worldwide. To assess the impacts of thermal variations on yield and quality of maize, two years field study was conducted during 2014 and 2015. Four maize hybrids were sown in spring season at ten planting dates with fifteen days interval between each planting date. Results revealed that late planted maize in the month of March to onward in spring faced significant decline in yield (10-40%) and quality (10-50%) due to higher temperatures, whereas early sown maize (15th and 30th January) showed better results in terms of grain quality and yield related traits. Yield and quality attributes showed a strong relationship with seasonal thermal variations with reliable R-2 values ranged from 0.80 to 0.95. In conclusion, thermal variations at different sowing dates caused yield decline and quality deterioration in spring maize However, maize hybrids P-1543 and DK-6103 resulted in higher yield return and better quality when sown earlier at end of January in spring. (C) 2019 Friends Science Publishers