What is Drought tolerance?
Maize is very sensitive to water during flowering, when the tassel and silks emerge; drought at this stage harms pollination and kernel set. Water stress during grain fill can leave kernels small.
Drought-tolerant varieties come through this stress with smaller losses, but no variety reaches its full yield potential without enough water. Tolerance is not a substitute for irrigation and good soil management.
Why does it matter when choosing seed?
Where irrigation is limited or summer drought risk is high, varieties whose sheets state drought tolerance help reduce yield risk.
CasSeed varieties related to this topic
The relevant characteristics are listed on each variety’s technical sheet.
FAO 500–550 · Hybrid maize seed
Early, drought-tolerant and widely adaptable — the leader of its maturity group.
Related terms
Stay-green
Stay-green is a plant’s ability to keep its leaves and stalk green and photosynthetically active for longer during grain fill and maturity.
Plant density
Plant density is the number of plants growing per unit area, usually expressed as plants per decare or plants per hectare.
Ear tip fill
Ear tip fill describes how far kernels are set and filled from the base of the ear right up to its tip.