Assessment of some indicators related to the resistant ability to weevils of some local maize samples in Son La province

Abstract

Maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais Motsch.) are omnivore species. They can eat almost of grains, but maize is the most suitable food for them. The intrusion of maize weevils affects the productivity and quality of maize. Annual economic losses caused by maize weevils are very serious problems because of their infestation before and after harvest. In this report, the authors present the results on the assessment of some indicators related to the resistant ability to weevils of six local maize samples in Son La province and a hybrid maize LVN99. The research results showed, the local maize samples had higher resistant ability to weevil than the hybrid maize LVN99, while the maize sample SL3 performed best resistant ability to weevils (the relative index of SL3 was 2815.82 and 1.86 times lower than that of LVN99). The results could be used as the basis for the selection of starting materials for breeding maize varieties with the good resistant ability to weevils.