Heat stress around flowering is harmful to maize growth and yield. Ear traits are closely related to yield; however, the effects of heat stress before and after flowering on ear development and yield traits remain unclear for different heat-tolerant...
Resistance breeding is the most economic method to control northern corn leaf blight (NCLB). The objectives of these studies were: To assess effects of dominant genes (Ht(s)), polygene (PG), and combinations on percent leaf area affected (PLAA), yiel...
Planting geometry is one of the most important management practices that determine plant growth and yield of corn. The effects of eight planting geometries (35 × 23 cm, 40 × 21 cm, 45 × 19 cm, 50 × 18 cm, 55 × 17 cm, 60...
Straw mulching (SM) plays an important role in promoting the grain yield (GY) of maize under no-tillage conditions. However, there is still a lack of deep understanding on the interactive impact of SM and weather conditions on agronomic traits and th...
In this study, hotspot regions, QTL clusters, and candidate genes for eight ear-related traits of maize (ear length, ear diameter, kernel row number, kernel number per row, kernel length, kernel width, kernel thickness, and 100-kernel weight) were su...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of population density and row spacing on field yield and other morphological characteristics of two commercial F1 maize hybrids of different biological cycle (Costanza and LG3535) in a four-year...
The KERNEL NUMBER PER ROW6 (KNR6)-mediated phosphorylation of an adenosine diphosphate ribosylation factor (Arf) GTPase-activating protein (AGAP) forms a key regulatory module for the numbers of spikelets and kernels in the ear inflorescences of maiz...
Microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers have wide applicability for genetic analysis in crop plant improvement strategies. Marker-assisted selection is an important tool for plant breeders to increase the efficiency of a breeding proce...
Low-light stress poses an increasing threat to maize yield, yet the changes in low-light adaptability of cultivars during breeding progress remain unclear. A two-year field experiment was conducted using maize cultivars released in the 1990s, 2000s,...
Inconsistent reports exist on the relationships between key agronomic traits and maize yield. We performed a multivariate analysis of yield and 10 agronomic traits in 59 hybrids to explore maize yields in mountainous areas. The yield per plant (YP) w...
Maize kernel growth is sensitive to heat stress, which is predicted to result in yield loss. However, the response of maize to short-term heat stress during different kernel-growth stages is still not clear. A 3-year field experiment, included two he...
Agronomic advancements have led to significant increases in maize yield per hectare in Northeast China, primarily through improved density tolerance. However, the genetic mechanism underlying grain yield responses to density stress remains poorly und...
Drought is a crucial environmental stress that tremendously impacts maize production, particularly under abrupt climate changes. Consequently, breeding drought-tolerant and high-yielding maize hybrids has become decisive in sustaining its production...
Yield components are the most important breeding objectives, directly determining maize high-yield breeding. It is well known that these traits are controlled by a large number of quantitative trait loci (QTL). Therefore, deeply understanding the gen...
Nitrogen (N) is an essential yield-limiting factor in maize, and identifying genes that improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is critical for sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. However, the genetic basis of NUE in maize remains poo...
After wheat and rice, maize is one of the most significant cereal crops worldwide. However, high-quality seed materials are prerequisites for stable yields, and low-quality maize seeds significantly contribute to low yields and deteriorate over time....
Maize is an important food staple in many countries, and is useful in animal feed and many industrial applications. Its productivity is highly sensitive to drought stress, which may occur at any period during its growth cycle. The objective of this w...
Solar dimming due to global climate change is becoming increasingly more common in some agricultural areas. Such low-light stress inhibits maize ear number, kernel number per unit area (KN), and kernel weight (KW) as vital yield components. However,...
Maize productivity in Southeastern Europe is increasingly affected by climatic variability, necessitating agronomic strategies to maintain yield under irrigated conditions. This study evaluated the effects of conventional tillage, minimum tillage, an...
Contemporary agriculture faces the challenge of sustaining crop productivity amid increasing climatic pressures and simplified agronomic practices, such as monoculture. A field experiment conducted from 2022 to 2024 aimed to determine the effects of...
In this study, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility of digital image analysis (DIA) as a substitute for standard analysis (SA) in assessing corn ear traits in agrotechnical field trials. Accurate and timely prediction of corn yield through corn ear t...
We evaluated a multi-output neural network framework for jointly analyzing maize grain yield (GY) and root lodging percentage (LP) using above-ground morphological traits measured under defined environmental conditions. To address model robustness, t...
Monitoring genetic gain is critical for evaluating breeding program performance. This study assessed genetic trends in the Zambia national maize breeding program using historical data (2001–2017) from 2225 hybrids tested across years and locati...
The number of kernels per ear is a key yield parameter that reflects the effects of breeding and agronomic management practices on crop productivity. However, conventional manual counting is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to human error....
Using a maize planting system with full film mulching on double ridges and furrow sowing in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Loess Plateau, this study aims to explore the optimal proportion of organic fertilizer to replace basal chemical fertili...
Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal and is affected by climate change. Therefore, the production of climate-smart maize is urgently needed by preserving diverse genetic backgrounds through the exploration of their genetic diversity. To achieve...
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most extensively cultivated food crop in China, and current studies on maize general combining ability (GCA) focus primarily on the genetic basis of traits. However, the dynamic trends and underlying genetic loci associated...
Genetic diversity within maize inbred populations is essential for sustaining genetic gain in breeding programmes. This study evaluated 280 maize inbred lines with two checks using an augmented block design (22 × 14). At harvest, 271 lines and...
Nitrogen is pivotal for high-yield maize (Zea mays L.), but excessive nitrogen application and improper timing remain common in production. Clarifying nitrogen strategies and population nitrogen accumulation under high density is urgent. This study s...
Interspecies interaction is key to achieving intercropping advantages. However, in semi-arid rainfed agricultural areas, research on how strip width influences interspecific relationships and system productivity in maize–flax intercropping rema...
Maize (Zea mays L.) is a global staple crop for food, feed and industrial use in China. As a thermophilic crop, its seedlings suffer from cold stress. Heilongjiang, China’s major maize producer, faces worsening early cold that impedes germinati...
How nitrogen (N) supply should be matched to increased planting density in drip-fertigated maize in arid regions remains unclear. A two-year split-plot field experiment (2024–2025) at Shihezi, northern Xinjiang, China, tested two planting densi...
Optimizing row spacing can improve canopy structure and productivity in densely planted maize, but variety-specific responses under drip fertigation remain unclear. A field experiment was conducted in Baoding in 2024 and 2025 to evaluate three row sp...
Maize production is increasingly challenged by climate change, which affects plant physiology, fungal colonization, and mycotoxin contamination. Aspergillus flavus, a saprophytic fungus, thrives in warm, dry conditions, leading to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)...
The nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of modern maize hybrids has been greatly improved, but for decades, little was known on whether the NUE heterosis of maize hybrids had increased. A two-year field study was conducted on eight maize hybrids and their...
In order to develop high-yielding genotypes of adapted maize, multilocation trials of maize were performed including forty-five maize hybrids exploiting genetic variability, trait associations, and diversity. The experiments were laid out in an RCB d...
Residue management at the farm level is essential for ensuring sustainable agricultural productivity. This field experiment, initiated in 2005, provides maize data from 2016 to 2018. This study evaluates the impact of crop residue management and fert...
While irrigation is generally required for most summer crops in the Mediterranean region, increasingly scarce water supplies are leading to a demand for more efficient irrigation infrastructure. Here, we assess how three irrigation volumes—100...
Knowledge of relatedness among maize elite breeding genotypes is useful in planning crosses for hybrid and inbred line improvement and assigning them into heterotic groups. This study investigated phenotypic and genetic similarities or diversities be...
To clarify the effects of biochar application on leaf photosynthesis, dry matter accumulation, and productivity in a maize–soybean intercropping system, a two-year field experiment was conducted in the Yellow River irrigation area of Inner Mong...
A fungicide’s ingredients can play a physiological role in crop water-management decisions. Our greenhouse study in 2021 demonstrated that Xyway LFR@FMC at-plant fungicide can significantly improve water-saving potential in corn. In 2022 and 20...
Nitrogen is an essential element for maize growth, but excessive application can lead to various environmental and ecological issues, including water pollution, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss. Hence, developing maize h...
To investigate the effects of planting density and chemical regulation measures, as well as their interactions, on the plant morphological characteristics, stem mechanical properties, leaf anatomical structure, dry matter accumulation and allocation,...
Biological nitrogen fixation and plant hormone synthesis promoted by Azospirillum spp. bacteria play a role in enhancing crop productivity and reducing losses. This may constitute a strategy to enhance crop productivity and reducing losses, thereby i...
Microalgal biostimulants are promising inputs for improving crop performance and soil quality, but integrated evidence linking plant, soil, and microbial responses under arid field conditions remains limited. Independent but complementary pot and fie...
Enhancing chlorophyll retention in maize leaves and prolonging the grain-filling duration constitute critical strategies for yield improvement in agricultural production systems. This study investigated the mechanistic relationship between yield enha...
To address the challenges of excessive water and fertilizer application, declining soil fertility, and suboptimal maize yields in the oasis irrigation areas of Northwest China, a two-year (2024–2025) field experiment was conducted. Three irriga...
Apple pomace, as a by-product, is difficult to manage and is produced in significant quantities. This makes it necessary to manage the resulting biomass. It is important for the environment to use pomace in an ecological way. It can provide a source...
Drought stress can significantly reduce wheat growth and development as well as grain yield. This study investigated morpho-physiological and hormonal (abscisic (ABA) and salicylic (SA) acids) responses of six winter wheat varieties during stem elong...
The knowledge of climate change effects on variations of winter wheat yields are crucial for productions. Our objectives were to investigate the relationship between yield-related indices of winter wheat and the related climatic variables (selected u...
of 2