author(s)
DV Chandrasekhar Reddy, DV Singh, Gaje Singh, Hem Singh, Prashant Mishra and UP Shahi

abstract
Spotted stem borer, Chilo partellus is the most ubiquitous and key pest of maize. Once the pest enters the plant tissue, it becomes almost impossible for biological control agents and pesticides to reach the target. Hence, keeping this in view the research trials were conducted during two consecutive years i.e. Kharif 2018 and 2019 at CRC of SVPUA&T, Meerut to know influence of stem morphological traits on the incidence of spotted stem borer in different maize genotypes. The results of the study revealed that the genotypes Vivek Hybrid 9, Vivek Hybrid 25, Wasc, Vivek Hybrid 39, HQPM 4, HQPM 8, Vivek Hybrid 43, HQPM 1 were recorded minimum (< 2) per cent of dead hearts and number of exit holes. From the correlation matrices of stem morphological traits with incidence of C. partellus, it was noted that more number of nodes per plant, stem diameter, internodal distance and plant height contributed for resistance in maize genotypes against the pest attack.