PERFORMANCE OF QUALITY PROTEIN MAIZE VARIETIES IN TWO ECOLOGICAL ZONES OF NIGERIA.

Mohammed, H.*, Akhadelor, M.O., Mohammed, M.U., Yusuf, A., Mohammed, A., Aliyu, S., Usman, J.G., Abubakar, S and Mukhtar, I

This research was carried out to test the utilization of water and soil nutrient by different Quality Protein Maize varieties. Field experiment was conducted in the 2008 and 2009 cropping seasons at the Ahmadu Bello University Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) experimental fields in Samaru, Zaria and Kadawa, Kano state. The station at Samaru, Zaria is located in the northern Guinea Savanna while that of Kadawa is located in the Sudan Savanna of Nigeria. Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) was used as the experimental design. Duncan Multiple Range Test and soil physicochemical analysis were used to compare the potentials of different QPM varieties at two different research stations to convert soil nutrient and water into crop and vegetative yields. DMRT was used to compare the means of the treatments under investigation. Soil physicochemical analysis was carried out to analyze the soils of these research fields to determine the relationship between soil fertility in the presence of rainfall and the vegetative and crop yields of six QPM varieties. Dry matter weight revealed a higher mean weight of 148.3g in 2008 and 191.1g in 2009 in Kadawa compared to 132.1g in 2008 and 147.9g in 2009 in Samaru that has a much higher annual rainfall. Analysis of 100-seed weight revealed that the higher the amount of rainfall, the higher the 100-seed weight. Crop yield revealed a far superior performance in Samaru with a much higher annual rainfall compared to Kadawa. Replicates 2 and 1 in Samaru and Kadawa respectively produced the highest crop yields, which could be attributed to their soils. DMRT selected varieties six (Sammaz 17) and four (Flint Q) as the most recommended in terms of crop yield in Samaru and Kadawa respectively.

Key words: Complete randomized block design, Duncan multiple range test, Quality protein maize, Soil nutrient.