GENE ACTION STUDIES FOR AGRONOMIC TRAITS IN MAIZE UNDER NORMAL AND WATER STRESS CONDITIONS

A set of six drought tolerant and susceptible maize inbred lines were evaluated under normal and water stress conditions. Significant differences among the genotypes were found for all the characters. Plant height, leaf area, grain yield per plant and harvest index, under both conditions indicated additive gene action with partial dominance which suggested that these traits might be useful during selection for developing synthetics. However over-dominance type of gene action was recorded for kernels per row and 100-grain weight. Heritability estimates ranged from moderate to high (54- 85%) for various traits. Gene action (additive and overdominance) and heritability suggested selection of desirable parents for breeding drought tolerant hybrids.