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Towards the Improvement of Maize in Nigeria

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Towards the Improvement of Maize in Nigeria 633.15.631.52 (669) MEDEDELINGEN VAN DE LANDBOUWHOGESCHOOL WAGENINGEN • NEDERLAND . 65-3 (1965) TOWARDS THE IMPROVEMENT OF MAIZE IN NIGERIA C. L. M. VAN EIJNATTEN Federal Department of Agricultural Research, Ibadan, Nigeria Department of Horticulture, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands (Received20-1-1965 ) H. VEENMAN & ZONEN N.V. - WAGENINGEN - 1965 f% 1ôL\C\\<>(J/' Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 65-3 (1965) (Communications of the Agricultural University) isals o published as athesis . LIST OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ... 1 1.1. The initiation ofresearc h onmaiz ei nNigeri a 1 1.1.1. Thecircumstance s 1 1.1.2. Theenvironmen t 1 1.2. Availableinformatio n 2 1.3. Thepurpos e ofthi sstud y 3 2. STATISTICS ON TRADE AND PRODUCTION OF MAIZE 4 2.1. Themonitaryvalu eo fth ecro p 4 2.2. Theare acultivate d withmaiz e 4 2.3. Quantitieso fmaiz eproduce d 5 2.4. Internaltrade 6 2.5. Externaltrade 7 2.6. Conclusion 7 3. THE PLACE OF MAIZE IN NIGERIA'S FARMING SYSTEMS. FOOD PREPARATIONS AND SOME DIETETIC OBSERVATIONS 8 3.1. Thecultivatio n ofth emaiz ecro p 8 3.1.1. In Western Nigeria 8 3.1.2. InEaster nNigeri a 9 3.1.3. In Northern Nigeria 10 3.1.3.1. Theriverai nprovince s 10 a. South ofth eNige r 10 b. South ofth eBenu e 11 c. Theriverai nprovince s north ofth eriver sNige ran d Benue 12 d. Onth eNige r andBenu eriverbank s 14 e. Reviewingth eRiverai n Provinces 14 3.1.3.2. TheNorther n Provinces 15 3.2. Maizei nth eNigeria n diets 15 3.2.1. Variousfoo d preparations 15 3.2.2. Composition ofth emaiz egrai n 22 3.2.3. Consumer preferences 24 3.2.3.1. Graincolour san d thenatur e of theendosper m 24 3.2.3.2. Flouryan dflint ygrai n typescompare d 25 3.3. Conclusions 30 4. MAIZE MATERIALSI NNIGERI AAN D THEIR PRODUCTIVITY 31 4.1. Introduction of the crop into West Africa 31 4.2. Localmaiz evarietie s 33 4.2.1. Collection ofloca lvarietie s 33 4.2.2. Geographic distribution ofplan tcharacter s 34 4.2.2.1. Graincharacter s 34 4.2.2.2. Tasselingtim e 36 4.2.2.3. Plantheight 36 4.2.2.4. Number ofsee drow spe rea r 36 4.2.3. Grouping ofth eloca lmaiz evarietie s 37 4.3. Newlyintroduce d varietieso fmaiz e 38 4.4. Productivity ofmaiz evarietie si nyiel d trials 39 4.5. Conclusions 40 5. BOTANICAL INVESTIGATIONS 41 5.1. Thegrowth and development of themaiz eplan t 41 5.2. Floralbiologica lobservation s 44 5.3. Development of thegrai n 47 5.4. Moistureconten t ofth egrai n 49 5.5. Maturityrating s 51 5.5.1. Theproblem 51 5.5.2. Typevarietie s 53 5.5.3. Timeo fplantin gan d timet oa nthesi s 54 5.5.4. Initiation ofth etasse l 56 5.6. Conclusions 85 6. INSECT PESTS 50 6.1. Insectsrecorde d 59 6.2. Observations onparticula r pests 62 6.2.1. Stemborers 62 6.2.2. Weevils 65 6.2.3. Armyworm s 66 6.2.4. Aphids 66 6.3. Conclusions 66 DISEASES 67 7.1. Diseases recorded 67 7.2. Observationso nparticula r diseases 68 7.2.1. Pucciniapolysora 68 7.2.1.1. Introductionan dpresen tdistributio n 68 7.2.1.2. Patterno fth eattac k onth emaiz eplan t 71 7.2.1.3. Somefact s onth efungu s 71 7.2.1.4. Races 72 7.2.1.5. Inoculation and assessment 73 7.2.1.6. Resistance 75 a. Sourceso fresistanc e 75 b. Selectionfo r resistance 76 7.2.2. Cochliobolus heterostrophus 77 7.2.2.1. Thediseas ean d itsimportanc e 77 7.2.2.2. Symptomexpressio nan dassessmen t 78 7.2.2.3. Resistance 80 7.2.3. Other diseaseso fimportanc e 82 7.2.3.1. Corticium solani 83 7.2.3.2. Pyriculariagrisea 83 7.2.3.3. Pythiumaphanidermatum 83 7.2.3.4. Trichometasphaeria turcica 83 7.2.3.5. Streakdisease 84 7.2.3.6. Leaffleck 84 7.2.3.7. Leaf distortion 84 7.2.3.8. Fourmor ecommo n diseases 85 7.3. Conclusions 85 , IMPROVEMENT OF THE CROP 86 8.1. Introduction 86 8.1.1. Theproblem 86 8.1.2. Theenvironmen t 86 8.1.3. Aims 87 8.2. Breedingprogram s 91 8.2.1. Introduced versusloca lvarietie s 91 8.2.2. Towardssyntheti cvarietie s 92 8.2.2.1. Whatar esyntheti cvarietie s 93 8.2.2.2. Syntheticvarieties ,schem eo fselectio n 94 8.2.2.3. Syntheticvarieties ,component s 95 8.2.2.4. Selectionfo r combiningabilit yan d itsinheritanc e 96 8.2.2.5. Multivarietalsynthetic s 100 8.2.3. Hybrids 102 8.2.4. New sources of variable breeding materials 103 8.3. Thebreedin gwor kreviewe d 105 9. MULTIPLICATION OF RECOMMENDED CULTTVARS 107 9.1. Organisingth esee dmultiplicatio n 107 9.1.1. Registration ofsee dmaterial s 107 9.1.2. Multiplicationscheme s 107 9.2. Somedifficultie s encountered 108 9.3. Conclusions 109 SUMMARY 110 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 112 SAMENVATTING:'NAAR DEVEREDELIN GVA NMAI S INNIGERIA ' 113 REFERENCES 115 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. THE INITIATION OF RESEARCH ON MAIZE IN NIGERIA Maize has been cultivated in Nigeria for several centuries. It had the character of a subsistance crop. Initial agricultural research work in Nigeria was directed to promote the development of various cash crops for export purposes (oil- palm, cocoa, cotton, groundnut) and the food crops were to a large extent neglected until the years after the second world war. The fast social and econ­ omic development of Nigeria caused great attention to be given to the internal food supply. In the years shortly before 1950 maize, amongst other crops, commenced to be studied. Soon afterwards, however, research work on maize has had to be extended considerably. 1.1.1. The circumstances The advent of a very destructive rust disease, which entered West Africa in 1950, opened the eyes for the importance of maize as a food crop by an initial total failure and in later years severe reductions in yield of the maize crop. The ensuing panic during the first few years after the occurrence of the rust has now subsided and rash measures of introducing new maize materials for immediate release to farmers have now been replaced by an organised approach towards a systematic study of the crop in Nigeria. A salient point is that the lack of in­ terest in former years was not substantiated on basis of a good performance of the localvarietie s prior to the outbreak ofth e rust disease. Experimentation with introduced varieties has shown, that the West African maize materials had a far lower yieldingperformanc e than many ofth e new materials. 1.1.2. The environment Nigeria has a wide range of ecological conditions, varying from high rainfall forest areas in the south eastern part of the country, where a short relatively dry period occurs, to low rainfall savannah areas with a severe dry season, which may extend to seven months, and ischaracterise d by the occurrence of a des­ iccating desert wind, the 'harmattan'. The map of Nigeria in figure 1 will aid in locating various provinces and towns, which may be mentioned here orlate r inth e various discussions. The largest part of Eastern Nigeria, situated east of the river Niger (below its confluence with the Benue), is located in a relatively wet forest zone with a rainfall higher than 60inches .Thi s ecological zone extends westwards across the Niger to cover Benin and Warri provinces and also the southern part of Ondo province. Most of the remaining part of Western Nigeria is situated in the drier rainforest area, with a rainfall of 45 to 60 inches. Whilst in the wet forest zone the rains usually are continuous all through the rainy season, in the drier rain­ forest, ecologically characterised by the occurrence of deciduous forest-tree species, the rainy season is commonly broken into two parts. The first part (the early rains) lasts from the end of March to the end of July and is followed by a Meded.Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 65-3(1965) 1 J »s OKOTO TK*T8IÄ* ^^ 1 2 V ...J\ i /' " 1 K NO i 4 Jb j • * 3 MAIDUGURI • < 1 -^ er"" "V x <£, i ~"\ e H V" t v" V • KAOUNA ^/ Ç \fj S 7 /S .BAUCH) ,—'' Meng / J ~"i .' «.jos i " 14 ', • y.- s 6 .M.NN*> ^J f 4 "•'"' "> J" .Bi4a 2 •V 1— ..-'"'-•i ^"^V "W \ ,-ï ' /' 'j 5"' ,••' M [..•-*"*' \ PgHÇl^V •^M-J l 9 * .ILORIN U, t f/ N«--r«. ^-'«L— ^•S/r PROVINCES 3 /* 1 ''"' ' S1^ \ /y\ 1 SOKOTO 31 ONITSHA -•?.« \s ' - ..„' J ƒ 2 KAT51NA 22 ENUGU frr,—^,o. / "'"?-"' *-. ^LOKOJA 1^ \ ^S*—^ --^"— s / 3 KANO 33 ABAKALIKI BORNU 34 OC OJ A lo f ! MAKURDI J S ILORIH 19 OWERRI \ \ -. ~~ \ V- 1 11 L -/ 33 NICER 36 UMUAHIA \ \ ,-i • AKURE i * t V / 13 27 ANNANG i *B€OKUTA..- --^-VJ | 6 / * - ƒ ,'V"' B BAUCHI \ IS J IJEBU-ODC/ -- 26 UVO v' OYO 29 CALABAR IO IBADAN 19 Y"i ^ ^*-.J \OGOJA*"* V 30 YENAGOA -t= r^- JW' / II KABBA 31 DECEMA LACO S ^< t' •BENI N CITV 13 PLATEAU 32 PORT HARCOURT BE NUE 33 5ARDAUNA -v-^^ ^— 1* AOAMAWA If' r~' V'"1-- y^~—X IS ABEOKUTA y- OWEft » 1 :. f \ } 1« COLONY UEBU 26 IB ONDO 327 n - »V" I« BENIN ij^^isÇr» u YO 30 jjAtfcouîrr*—'28 Pi V^q/) JlxBÜ FIGURE 1.
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