Breeding for drought and nitrogen stress tolerance in maize: from theory to practice

Abstract

Targeted initially for maize breeders in sub-Saharan Africa, the content is based on a successful approach developed at CIMMYT for improving the tolerance of maize to drought and low nitrogen stress. Intended as a supplement to a course for breeders and agronomists of at least BSc level, it deals with the effects of water and N deficits on the maize plant, the level of yield increases to be expected from selection, factors that affect the severity of drought and low N stress in maize, selecting suitable fields for drought and low N screening, managing uniform stress in drought or low N experiments, designing effective experiments and field layouts for stress trials, the choice and analysis of data, and the use of drought and low N screening in a normal breeding program