Screening of some selected indian maize cultivars to simulated drought condition

Drought is a major constraint to get an optimum yield of any crop under changing environment. A total of 12 Indian accessions of maize seedlings was screened initially by performing relative water content (RWC) under water deficit condition. Three (RJ-2020, BPCH-6 and EC-3161) landraces that showed a higher RWC than DTSYN11 were finally selected for further studies. Four landraces maintained RWC above 80% under 4th and 8th day stress periods. Higher contents of chlorophyll were recorded significantly in EC- 3161 and in RJ-2020 as compared to DTSYN11 under the 8th day of stress. RWC showed a decline in BPCH-6 (72.54%) and in RJ- 2020 (72.65%) and proline was significantly increased up to 10 and 13-fold, respectively. Therefore, this research has identified three unfamiliar maize landraces that possess the capacity to be drought tolerance when under water deficit and watering condition. In addition to their useful applications in breeding program, they are valuable resources to elucidate genetic profiling that enhance the capacity to exhibit drought tolerance in Indian maize cultivars.