Physiological and Morphological Response of Maize (Zea mays L.) Inbred Lines under Drought Condition

The present study was conducted to assess drought tolerant and grain yield traits in maize. Seventeen stable and productive inbred lines were evaluated under drought condition. Results revealed that, The analysis of variance in respect to four drought tolerant and twelve yields and yield attributing characters indicated highly significant differences among the genotypes as revealed by 'F' test. Among the inbred lines, SKV-70, CML-249, CML-357 showed the better mean values for drought tolerant traits viz., SPAD chlorophyll meter reading (SCMR), specific leaf area(SLA), anthesis silking interval (ASI), carbon isotope discrimination (Δ¹3C) in desirable direction. Lines NAI-143, NAI-156, SKV-70 had higher yielding ability along with good drought tolerance ability compared to other inbred lines.