Deciphering the Stability and Association of Ear Leaves Elements with Nutrients Applied to Grain Yield of Maize

摘要

Ear leaf as a vegetative part has proven to be useful for evaluation of nutritional indices in maize and for making predictions about yield. This study was conducted to determine the stability of ear leaves nutrient under varying fertilizer applications and their relationship with grain yield. Thirty-five (35) nutrient omission trials were established in four locations using two maize varieties; IWD (OPV) and Oba Super-9 (hybrid) making a total of eight environments in 2015 wet season across the Guinea Savannas of Nigeria. Ten ear leaves were sampled in the period between tasseling and silking immediately when the position of the ear was identified and analyzed for macro and micro elements. The results showed that environment contributed to most of the variability observed in all the elements rather than the treatments. The GGEbiplot showed that Mg, Mn, and Cu are positively associated with grain yield and are the most stable elements. The confirmatory analysis also showed the importance of these elements in predicting grain yield. The environment has demonstrated to be a major determinant of ear leaves elements in maize. Therefore, accurate envirotyping of maize producing regions in Nigeria is important for better classification of maizegrowing regions.