DEVELOPMENT OF FUSARIUM EAR ROT DISEASE OF MAIZE IN THREE DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS

The profile of maize Fusarium ear rot was conducted in three different geographic locations including Gemmeza and Sakha at the Nile delta while the relative humidity (RH) is above 50% and Sids of upper Egypt while RH is less than 50 %. Field experiments were carried out on 31 commercial maize cultivars. Among these cultivars, seven of them were hybrids of partial resistance against Fusarium ear rot. Collected data during the two successive growing seasons of 2007 and 2008 showed that the disease severity (DS) was correlated to the relative humidity in the tested locations (4-44% in the Delta while RH was 54-58% and 0.3-12% in upper Egypt while RH was 44- 45%). The results also showed that the difference in temperature has no role in disease severity of the disease in the three locations. Results of this study could be used to classify maize growing areas, based solely on environmental variables especially RH, for their propensity to Fusarium ear rot.