Abstract:
A study was conducted to determine selected physico-chemical aspects of waterlogging tolerance in acidic soils for maize crop improvement. This experiment was conducted in low lying flood prone regions of western Kenya where waterlogging is a severe problem affecting maize production. Nine cultivars selected from a previous screening study were subjected to waterlogging to select traits for tolerance to waterlogging. Seventeen day old seedlings planted in acidic ferralsol soil (pH 5.5) were exposed to field capacity flooding for 10 days, drained and growth monitored. The effect of flooding on number of leaves, leaf area, root collar diameter, seedling height and grain yield was determined. Waterlogging reduced leaf number, area and chlorophyll concentration, plant height, nutrient uptake and grain yield but increased leaf wilting and death and root porosity. The number of wilted or dead leaves, leaf chlorophyll concentration, root porosity and yield formed good screening criteria for tolerance to waterlogging in maize. The tolerant germplasm could be incorporated in maize breeding programmes to develop genotypes that are high yielding and tolerant to waterlogging.
