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Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (27): 21-27.doi: 10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.casb2024-0648

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Screening of Shade-tolerant Summer Maize Varieties in Huang-Huai-Hai Region

HAN Wenwen(), JIANG Yanhua, ZHANG Xinru, WU Zhihua, SHI Lingxin, TANG Zhiyi, CUI Yanhong, DU Xiong, GAO Zhen()   

  1. College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University/State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation/Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Baoding, Hebei 071001
  • Received:2024-10-30 Revised:2025-02-15 Online:2025-09-25 Published:2025-10-07

Abstract:

To select shade-tolerant maize cultivars adapted to low-light conditions in the Huang-Huai-Hai region and thereby improve maize yield in this area, twelve widely cultivated maize cultivars in the region were selected as experimental materials. These cultivars were subjected to a 6-day shading treatment starting at the tasseling stage, and indicators, including silk number, dry matter accumulation, and yield, were measured. The results showed that shading significantly reduced the silk number, silk length, dry matter accumulation, and yield, with the extent of reduction varying among different cultivars. On average, yield decreased by 91.64%, corresponding to a reduction of 11.79 t/hm2. Further analysis revealed that ear diameter, ear length, number of kernels per ear, 1000-kernel weight, silk number, and silk length were all significantly positively correlated with yield, indicating that these indicators could serve as effective criteria for evaluating shade tolerance in maize. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of shade tolerance traits and cluster analysis, ‘Jingke 968’, ‘Denghai 605’, and ‘Xundan 20’ were ultimately identified as shade-tolerant cultivars.

Key words: summer maize, variety, shade tolerance, shading treatment, yield, silk, cluster analysis