Abstract

ARELLANO VAZQUEZ, José L.; GAMEZ VAZQUEZ, A. Josué  and  AVILA PERCHES, Miguel A.. Agronomic potential of cacahuacintle maize landraces at Toluca valley. Rev. fitotec. mex [online]. 2010, vol.33, n.spe4, pp.37-41. ISSN 0187-7380.

The Cachuacintle maize (Zea mays L.) production in the Toluca Valley is marketed as "elote" (green and fresh ear) and as grain for "pozole", at prices 75 to 300 % higher than common white grain. Cacahuacintle maize production in the region depends on native maize landraces. In this study we evaluated 42 Cacahuacintle maize landraces and the hybrids 'H-33', 'H-44' and 'H-137', in experiments established under rainfed conditions in Calimaya and Metepec, both in Toluca Valley, State of México. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used. Significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) were detected between localities for plant height, ear height, ears per plant and grain yield. Among landraces there were differences (P ≤ 0.01) for days to silking, ears per plant, lodging percent and grain yield. Days to silking ranged from 99 to 106 d after sowing, and lodging from 12 to 24 %. These landraces were thus classified as late season varieties, with moderate to high lodging. Grain yield in the best performing landraces ranged from 7.5 to 8.9 t ha^-1, while varieties 7, 11 and 32 stood out for their high values of grain yield, hectolitric weight and weight of 100 seeds.

Keywords : Zea mays; floury grain; grain yield; silking; grain size.