CORRELATION STUDIES IN GROWTH, YIELD COMPONENTS AND YIELD IN MAIZE (Zea mays) IN ANYIGBA, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

The leaves of plant are the photosynthetic machinery responsible for the manufacturing of carbohydrates utilizing the energy of the sun, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. The most important leaf characteristic for predicting grain yield, particularly in maize appears to be leaf area, Leaf area (LA) plays an important role in plant growth analysis as leaf growth is important in influencing light interception, thus impacting on crop growth and yield in cereals. An experiment was conducted at the Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria on correlation studies in growth, yield components and yield in maize (Zea mays) to ascertain effects of LA on growth, yield component and yield of maize. The implication of leaf area on grain yield is reflected on the numbers of Seeds/Cob. In this study, the highest correlation value (0.678) was found to occur between LA and Seeds/Cob. However other characters such as plant height, leaf numbers, also contributed positively to the final grain yield. All these characters exhibited perfect and significant correlation with Leaf Area. Considering the regression equation, Seeds/Cob was found to exert the greatest influence of Leaf Area therefore indicating that more Seeds/Cob resulting from more photosynthete and accumulation of starch consequently increased maize yield. In summary, this result suggest that the relationships between Leaf Area and some components such as height, leaf number, Seeds/Cob should be considered for increasing grain yield and also predicting Leaf Area.