Maize (Zea mays L) research at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Samaru was initiated in the 1950s with the goal of developing adapted high yielding varieties and hybrids. Germplasm materials were collected from local sources as well as from different countries, including Columbia, Kenya, Mexico and the US' By the 1960s. IAR Samaru was actively participating in the National cooperative Trials, the West African Maize Variety Trials of the OAU-STRC Joint Project as well as the East African Maize Variety Trial coordinated by the East African Agricultural and Forestry Research organization (EAAFRO). Kitale, Kenya. By 197 6,a total of nine new open- pollinated varieties had been developed and released to farmers' The new maize technology packages developed gave up to 98% higher grain yield than the farmers traditional methods of production. In the 1990s, collaborative research continued under the west and Central African Collaborative Maize Research Network (WECAMAN) and the sasakawa Global20006G-2000) which, in partnership with IAR, disseminated new maize technologies to Nigerian farmers. In 2001, three new varieties developed and tested in collaboration With IITA-WECAMAN were registered and released to Nigerian farmers. Recently, Quality Protein Maize (QPM) trials were initiated in collaboration with lITA-WECAMAN.SG-2000, and CIMMYT and promising results have been obtained. The Institute continues to collaborate with national and international research organizations in maize improvement. The five decades of collaborative maize research at Samaru have contributed to increased land area under maize, increased grain yield, and increased income to maize farmer.La recherche sur le mais i Samaru a ete initi€e dans les ann6es 50avec le proiet d'am6lioration varietale centre sur le d6veloppementd'hybrides et de vari6tes adapt€s b hauts rendements' Les ressourcesg6n6tiques comprenaient du matdriel de source locale ainsi que desintroductions de diff6rents pays incluant la Columbie, le Kenya, le Mexique et les USA. Dans les ann6es 60, l'lAR i samaru a participeaux essais nationaux de collaboration, au proiet corrioint OAU-STRCdes essais vari6taux en Afrique de l'ouest ainsi qu'aux essais vari6tauxde mais pour l'Afrique de l'est, coordonn6s par l'organisatiorr derecherche en Agriculture et en foresterie de l'Afrique de l'est bas6ei Kitaty, Kenya. En 1976, un total de neuf nouvelles vari6tes ipollinisation libre a ete d6veloppe et vulgarise auprds des agriculteurs.Pendant les ann6es 80, les variet6s lrybrides d6veloppees par l'llTA encollaboration avec des chercheurs nationaux ont 6t6 homologu6es etcommercialisees par des entreprises privees de semences. Les nouveauxpaquets technologiques d6velopp6s dorrnaient iusqu'i 98 pour centen rendement grain plus eleve que les m6thodes traditionnelles cleproduction des agriculteurs. Dans les ann€es 90, l'lAR i samaru enpartenariat avec le Reseau de recherche sur le mais pour l'Afrique del'ouest et du centre OVECAMAN) et avec Sasakawa Global 2000, ontcontinue la recherche collaborative avec la promotion de nouvellestechnologies maisicoles auprEs des agricr-rlteurs Nigerians. En 2001,trois nouvelles vari6t6s developpdes et test6es en collaborationavec |'TA-WECAMAN ont et6 honrologu6es et vulgarisdes auprdsdes agriculteurs Nig€rians. Recemment, des essais de mais richesen proteines de qualit6 ont 6t€ inities en collaboration avec l'llTA-WECAMAN, SG2000 et le CIMMYT et des resultats prometteursont et6 obtenus. L'institut continue ) cooperer avec les organisationsde recherche internationale et nationale pour l'amelioration vari€taledu mais. L'impact des cinq d6cennies de recherche collaborative hSamaru a induit l'accroissement des superficies emblavees en mais,l'augmentation des rendements grains et l'augmentation des revenusdes agriculteurs qui cultivent le mais.

Maize; Plant Diseases; Plant Health; Plant Breeding; Plant Production

Yield; Maize; Seed Production; Crop Production

Africa; West Africa

Nigeria