Evaluation of European maize germplasm under cold conditions

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a tropical crop with low tolerance to cold conditions and has to be planted late in temperate areas due to low temperatures. The objective of this research was to identify new cold tolerant populations among the European germplasm useful for improving adaptation to early sowing. For that, the European Union Maize Landraces Core Collection (EUMLCC) was evaluated under cold conditions. After a preliminary screening of 95 populations the 11 populations with best germination and early growth under cold conditions were multiplied and evaluated in a cold chamber and in early field sowings at two locations during 2 years. The cold tolerant populations from the EUMLCC were not significantly different from the cold tolerant checks in the cold chamber. In early field sowing, some EUMLCC populations had similar emergence than the commercial checks and the coldest tolerant hybrids, and higher vigor than all the hybrids and the yield of some of the populations surpassed the yield of the cold tolerant hybrids. Altogether, Aranga1 emerged as the most promising candidate as base population for improving adaptation to early sowing. ; Research was supported by the Spanish National Plan for Research and Development (AGF2004-06776, AGL2007-64218), the Autonomous Government of Galicia (PGIDIT04RAG403006PR) and the Excma. Diputacion Provincial de Pontevedra. ; Peer reviewed