AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF NATIVE AND HYBRID MAIZE (Zea mays L.) IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ATENCO, STATE OF MEXICO

Abstract

In the municipal area of Atenco, State of Mexico, Mexico, 20 % of maize (Zea mays L.) seeds planted are from hybrids and improved varieties, and the rest are from native varieties. However, the diversity of native maize is being noticeably lost, as the recent land conflict has pushed agricultural activities to the background, where they must be reinvigorated after the relocation of the Mexico City airport. To date, the investigations carried out in native maize races in the High Valleys are focused mainly in Puebla, Tlaxcala, and north of the State of Mexico, and little has been studied on the lake area of Texcoco. As a result, the aim was to determine the potential yield and agronomic characteristics of native varieties in relation to commercial varieties recommended for the area. Thirty-eight accessions from Atenco and surrounding municipal areas, along with 11 commercial hybrids recommended for the High Valleys, were evaluated. The evaluation was conducted in two locations: the ejido of San Salvador Atenco and the Valley of Mexico Experimental Field of the National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) in Santa Lucía de Prías, Coatlinchán, Texcoco, State of Mexico, using a 7 × 7 lattice design with three replications. Information was recorded regarding days to female flowering (DFF) and male flowering (DMF), plant height (PH) and ear height (EH), ear diameter (ED), ear length (EL), number of rows per ear (RPE), and grain yield (GY). There were differences (p ≤ 0.01) between genotypes for the variables; between locations, there were differences for the variables of flowering, plant morphology, and yield, and for the genotype × location interaction, there was no significance in two variables (EH and EL). The SAR-1 native genotype produced a similar grain yield to that of the best commercial hybrids, which can be used for further improvement.