Growth, development, leaf gaseous exchange, and grain yield response of maize cultivars to drought and flooding stress

The prevalence of extreme drought and flooding is posing a threat to the food security of Sub-Saharan African countries. There are national and international calls for actions to investigate the level of resilience of existing crop cultivars to multiple abiotic stress conditions. A two-year study was carried out in South Africa to determine growth, development, yield, yield components, and physiological responses of two contrasting maize cultivars—PAN 413 (drought tolerant) and PAN 6Q-245 (drought intolerant) under drought and flooding. The drought effect on grain yield was more pronounced from mid-vegetative to tasselling stages, regardless of the cultivar with yields deviating from the control by 53–58% (2015/2016) and 34–42% (2016/2017). The effect of flooding on grain yield was pronounced at the early vegetative stage for both cultivars, with yield reductions ranging between 26–30% (2015/2016) and 15–21% (2016/2017). Results from the study indicated that existing maize cultivars (drought tolerant and drought intolerant) are both prone to likely extreme drought events experienced during the tasselling stage. Results also showed that both cultivars are prone to probable flooding events before the tasselling stage. It is recommended that plant breeders’ efforts be directed to developing maize cultivars with multiple stress tolerances.The European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No. 613817 (MODEXTREME—Modelling vegetation response to EXTREMe Events, http://modextreme.org). Additional funding was made available from National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology, South Africa. The first author is very grateful for University of Pretoria for providing him with UP PhD bursary.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityam2019Animal and Wildlife SciencesPlant Production and Soil Scienc