Drought is one of the major factors affecting maize production most especially in the Southern
Guinea Savanna Zones of Nigeria. Scientists working on maize research have demonstrated
the ability of local farmers to double maize yield through drought resistant varieties and
agronomic practices. This study was evaluated on farm trial of Drought Tolerant (DT) maize
varieties and hybrids in the Southern Guinea Savanna Zones of Nigeria. Mother-baby trial
approach was used for the study. The mother-plot consists of eight DT varieties planted at each
of the central locations of Bida and Ilorin headquarters of Agricultural Development Project
(ADP), of Niger and Kwara States respectively. The farmers fields scattered around each of the
central locations made up the baby trials. Socio-economic data were obtained from participating
farmers through structured questionnaire.
The results show that four of the DT maize varieties had higher gross margins than the farmers
local varieties. The farmers were satisfied with the technology characteristic such ease
operation, maturity days, grain yield, and inputs requirements. They preferred the grain size and
grain color of DT varieties to the local variety; inadequate supply of fertilizer for production, and
unavailability of seed were the major constraints. The paper concluded that four of the DT
varieties were better than the farmers local variety. It was recommended that the four hybrid
maize varieties with higher gross margin be multiplied and disseminated to farmers in order to
boost production during the drought period.