The consistently low yield turnout of maize on farmers’ fields owing to drought and
the nutritional challenges attributable to the consumption of white endosperm maize pose a major
threat to food and nutritional security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The objectives of this study
were to assess the performance of newly developed extra-early maturing orange hybrids under
managed drought and well-watered conditions, compare the outcomes of multiple-trait base index
and multi-trait genotype–ideotype distance index selection procedures, and identify drought-tolerant
hybrids with stable performance across contrasting environments for commercialization in SSA. One
hundred and ninety orange hybrids and six checks were evaluated under managed drought and
well-watered conditions at Ikenne for two seasons between 2021 and 2023. A 14 × 14-lattice design
was used for the field evaluations under both research conditions. Drought stress was achieved
by the complete withdrawal of irrigation water 25 days after planting. Results revealed significant
differences among the hybrids under drought and well-watered conditions. Grain yield, ears per
plant, and plant aspect under managed drought were correlated to the same traits under well-watered
conditions, suggesting that the expression of these traits is governed by common genetic factors.
Twenty-nine hybrids were identified as top-performing drought-tolerant hybrids by the multipletrait base index and the multi-trait genotype–ideotype distance index. Of the selected outstanding
29 hybrids, 34% were derived from crosses involving the tester TZEEIOR 197, demonstrating the
outstanding genetic potential of this inbred line. Further analysis of the 29 selected hybrids revealed
TZEEIOR 509 × TZEEIOR 197 as the hybrid that combined the most drought-tolerant adaptive
traits. However, the hybrids TZEEIOR 526 × TZEEIOR 97, TZEEIOR 384 × TZEEIOR 30, TZEEIOR
515 × TZEEIOR 249, TZEEIOR 510 × TZEEIOR 197, TZEEIOR 479 × TZEEIOR 197, and TZEEIOR
458 × TZEEIOR 197 were identified as the most stable hybrids across drought and well-watered
conditions. These hybrids should be extensively tested in multi-location trials for deployment and
commercialization in SSA.

drought tolerance; multiple-trait base index multi-trait genotype–ideotype distance index stability sub-Saharan Africa