Assessment of environment lodging stress for maize using fuzzy synthetic evaluation

Lodging in maize, which is the result of the genotype-by-environment interactions, causes severe yield losses annually. There are many studies on lodging resistance of maize varieties now, but information about maize planting environment lodging stress is very rare. The environment lodging stress, which is a result of various factors, is characterized by uncertainty. Fuzzy sets theory and fuzzy logic are advantageous for dealing with the questions with uncertainties. The objective of this study is to assess the environment lodging stress for maize planting. Based on the daily weather data in the recent 59 years (1951–2009) and soil data, five counties (or cities) in ShanDong Province and HeNan Province in Huang-Huai-Hai-Plain, China, are selected as study sites; the maximum wind speed, rainfall, and potassium content in soil are chosen as stress indicators, and the overall stress level of each study site is obtained by a fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach. The consistency is shown between our calculation results and the results obtained with actual survey data on lodging in maize, indicating that the employed model is a promising approach for assessing environment lodging stress, and providing a scientific basis for maize variety extension and recommendation and comprehensive management to reduce maize planting risk and loss.