Maize Hybrid IMH 224

Background
North Eastern Plains Zone comprising the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and east UP has nearly 8.56 lakh hectare area under kharif maize production which produce approximately 21.82 lakh tonns maize. The productivity of this zone is far below (2388 kg) to the national average productivity (3195 kg). This region of the country face excessive rains during kharif season or drought or sometimes both, occurred in the same crop season which is the major factor for low maize productivity. Most of the maize crop grown in this zone is rainfed. The long duration hybrids are also not suitable in this ecology due to delayed maturity which affects sowing of rabi crops. Therefore, developing medium duration and high yielding hybrids can address this issue very effectively.
Technology Details
The parental lines of the hybrid are highly diverse and heterotic hence the cross combination has resulted in high yielding single cross hybrid which consistently recorded yield of 7.23 t/ha across zones and locations with a potential yield up to 9.0 t/ha. This medium maturity single cross hybrid shown significant yield superiority (13.05%) over the relevant best check. This hybrid has recorded resistant reaction to major diseases in the zone under artificial inoculated conditions.