Peer review

Two maize hybrids, NHYB-1 and NHYB-2 with upright leaf orientation, and two composites, FARZ 27 and 34 with lax leaf orientation, were compared. The crops were grown at three levels of nitrogen (0, 75 and 150 kg N/ha) at Ibadan in the rain forest zone of Nigeria in 1979 and 1980. N application increased leaf area index (LAI) and hastened flowering. The composites had greater LAI than the hybrids. Lodging was greater at harvest than at mid-silk and severer in the hybrids than in the composites. Grain, stover and total dry-matter yields were greater for the composites. The hybrids were more responsive to N application in 1979 but the pattern was not consistent in 1980. More dry matter was partitioned to the grain in the hybrids as shown by their higher harvest index, especially in 1979. The concentration of N in ear leaf and stover increased with increase in N application, but P and K concentrations in the stover were highest in the control treatment.

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