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DHM-117 maize hybrid Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

DHM-117 maize hybrid

DHM-117 is a single-cross yellow maize hybrid developed at the Directorate of Maize Research (now ICAR-IIMR), Hyderabad-Winter Nursery Centre, and released through AICRP-Maize for the peninsular zone of India. It is the long-running public-sector kharif workhorse in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, providing a benchmark against which private single-crosses are compared in those states.

Why it matters

When DHM-117 was notified in the early 2000s, the peninsular maize crop was still dominated by composites and three-way crosses; the hybrid demonstrated that ICAR public-sector breeding could match private single-crosses on yield and stability under rainfed kharif conditions. It remained on the National Food Security Mission seed-rolling-plan list for over a decade and continues to be multiplied by AP and Telangana state seed corporations.

Key facts

  • Breeder: Directorate of Maize Research (DMR), Hyderabad-Winter Nursery Centre (now ICAR-IIMR)
  • Type: single-cross yellow-grain kharif hybrid
  • Recommended zone: peninsular India — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
  • Duration: 100-110 days (kharif)
  • Yield potential: 6.5-7.5 t/ha; on-farm 5.0-5.5 t/ha
  • Grain: yellow-orange semi-flint, ~300 g per 1000 kernels
  • Plant height: 200-210 cm; medium ear placement

Agronomy

Designed for medium-to-heavy black soils and red loams with assured kharif rainfall or supplemental irrigation. Seed rate 20 kg/ha at 60 × 20 cm. Fertiliser: 120:60:40 NPK kg/ha for rainfed, 150:75:60 with one extra irrigation under semi-irrigated conditions. Nitrogen split — basal, knee-high, tasseling. Pre-emergence atrazine 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by one hand-weeding at 30 DAS controls a typical Telangana weed flora dominated by Cynodon dactylon, Echinochloa colona and Trianthema.

Pests and diseases

DHM-117 is moderately resistant to maydis leaf blight (Bipolaris maydis) and turcicum leaf blight in the peninsular zone, and to charcoal rot under terminal moisture stress. It is susceptible to fall armyworm (Fall Armyworm Maize, Maize Faw Spodoptera Frugiperda National) and to stem borers (Chilo partellus, Sesamia inferens) in delayed kharif sowings. Pink stalk borer is occasional in interior Andhra.

Adoption and use

The grain is preferred by poultry-feed mills around Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Coimbatore and Belagavi (Maize Poultry Feed Link India) for its uniform colour, high test weight and low aflatoxin under timely harvest. Telangana State Seed Development Corporation and APSSDC continue to produce DHM-117 breeder and certified seed; KVKs in the peninsular zone use the hybrid as a comparator in front-line demonstrations. With the spread of private single-crosses since the 2010s, DHM-117 area has plateaued but the hybrid is still relevant for resource-constrained farmers needing affordable certified seed.

See also: Maize Crop Overview, Hqpm 1 Iari Quality Protein Maize, Hqpm 5 Quality Protein Maize, Hqpm 7 Quality Protein Maize, Vivek Qpm 9 Maize, Maize Faw Spodoptera Frugiperda National, Maize Poultry Feed Link India.

Sources

  1. DHM-117 release notification. ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Hyderabad. https://iimr.icar.gov.in/?page_id=2247
  2. AICRP-Maize annual report 2022-23. ICAR-IIMR. https://iimr.icar.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AR-2022-23.pdf