Evaluation of Maize Inbreds and their Hybrids against Bacterial Stalk Rot, Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight under Mid Hill Conditions

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important Kharif cereal crops of Himachal Pradesh. It is mainly used as food, feed, fodder and fuel in the State and is grown over a wide range of agro-climatic conditions. The importance of biotic stresses and their ever-increasing global concern cannot be underestimated. Losses occurring every year due to one reason or another are massive and invariably result in fluctuating production and market price. During the recent past the spread of different hybrids in the state has increased the severity of different diseases in maize. Most important among them are banded leaf and sheath blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani f.sp. sasakii and Bacterial stalk rot incited by Erwinia chrysanthemi pv zeae. The existing local maize biodiversity in the state is still rich in resistance to such diseases. To combat this rising problem, an effort was made to develop the inbred lines of maize from local germplasm showing resistance to these diseases. Twelve diverse inbred lines were crossed to three inbred testers in L x T design. These twelve inbred lines, three testers and resulting 36 hybrids along with a single cross hybrid Vivek 23 ( check) were evaluated under Randomized Complete Block Design under field conditions. The crosses L₁ x T₃, L₂ x T₂, L₂ x T₃, L₃ x T₂ and L₁₀ x T₁ were found to be resistant to Bacterial Stalk rot. All the inbred lines except L₁ and testers T₁ and T₂ were moderately resistant, while crosses L₄ x T₁, L₅ x T₃, L₆ x T₂, L₆ x T₃ and L₁₀ x T₂ were resistant to the banded leaf and sheath blight.