Preliminary Identification of Local Maize Under Drought Stress By PEG-6000

Abstract

Adaptation test of local maize plants under drought stress requires early selection at the seedlings stage through Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG-6000). This study aimed to identify local varieties of maize plants from North Sumatra under drought stress with several doses of PEG-6000. This study was conducted from July to November 2022 using a completely randomized design with two factors and three replications. The sixteen local maize (L) and a hybrid variety (H) of maize as a comparison were used as the first factor. The PEG doses were 0; 100; 200; 300; 400; and 500 g L-1 as the second factor. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and duncan's multiple range test at P<0.05. The results showed that the LSB5 and LSB4 of local maize from Serdang Bedagai had the greatest number of seeds germinated and water content of seedlings at 40.17 seeds and 74.43%, respectively. The higher PEG dose of 500 g L-1 inhibited the number of seeds germinated and water content of local maize seedlings to 32.27 and 11.45%, respectively. The interaction of local varieties with PEG doses were insignificant effects on both characteristics of local maize.