Assessment of damage caused by rodents in some maize varieties in Farshut area, Qena governorate, Egypt

The work herein was carried out to estimate the damage caused by rodent species on some cultivars of yellow and white maize crop at EL-Dahasa village, Farshut district, Qena governorate, Egypt during the summer 2018 and 2019 seasons. The genotypes studied were three Yellow maize (Balady and Single Cross: S. C. 2055, S. C. 2066) and four white maize [ (Single cross: S. C. 4 and S. C. 6) and (three ways cross: T.W. C. 310 and T. W. C. 11)]. The Balady variety is more attacked by rodents compared to the single and triple hybrids, and this may be due to the early maturing variety (80-90 days) compared to the single and triple hybrids (110-120 days). Also, the yellow corn cultivars are more vulnerable to rodents than the white cultivars, due to the fact that they contain a greater amount of oils compared to the white cultivars.