Approaches and progress in breeding drought-tolerant maize hybrids for tropical lowlands in west and central Africa.

Drought represents a significant production challenge to maize farmers in West and Central Africa, causing substantial economic losses. Breeders at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture have therefore been developing drought-tolerant maize varieties to attain high grain yields in rainfed maize production zones. The present review provides a historical overview of the approaches used and progress made in developing drought-tolerant hybrids over the years.

Estimating genetic gains for tolerance to stress combinations in tropical maize hybrids.

Maize is a strategic food crop in sub-Saharan Africa. However, most maize growing tropical savannas particularly in West and Central African experience the occurrence of frequent droughts and infestation, resulting in 30-100% yield losses. This production zones need maize cultivars that combine tolerance to the two stresses.

Unravelling the Effect of Provitamin A Enrichment on Agronomic Performance of Tropical Maize Hybrids.

Maize is consumed in different traditional diets as a source of macro- and micro-nutrients across Africa. Significant investment has thus been made to develop maize with high provitamin A content to complement other interventions for alleviating vitamin A deficiencies. The current breeding focus on increasing β-carotene levels to develop biofortified maize may affect the synthesis of other beneficial carotenoids.

Stacking Tolerance to Drought and Resistance to a Parasitic Weed in Tropical Hybrid Maize for Enhancing Resilience to Stress Combinations.

Maize is a food security crop cultivated in the African savannas that are vulnerable to the occurrence of drought stress and infestation. The co-occurrence of these stresses can severely damage crop growth and productivity of maize. Until recently, maize breeding in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has focused on the development of either drought tolerant or resistant germplasm using independent screening protocols.