Northern leaf blight is an important and widely distributed foliar disease of maize in Tanzania. To identify new sources of resistance, 20 maize cultivars comprising of varieties, inbred lines and accessions were evaluated under artificial inoculation in the screen house and under field conditions in 2013 and 2014. Screen house and field experiments were laid out in completely randomized design (CRB) and randomized complete block design (RCBD), respectively in three replicate, in a field plot size of 15 m². Data on components of resistance, AUDPC and yield were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation coefficient analyses using Genstat 14th edition (PC/window7, 2013) while means were separated using the Least Significant Difference (p ≤ 0.05). Combined analysis of variance revealed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) for years (Y), variety (V) and variety and year (V.Y) in the maize variety and among the component of resistance while disease severity index increased from 30.3 % at tasseling to 41.5 % and 73.9 % at silking and maturity, respectively. Five maize accessions 1713, 1723, 1745, 1774, 1776 and one inbred line H308 were resistant to NLB under screen house while H208, H308, PAN63, PAN67 and TAN222 indicate moderate resistance under field condition. Positive correlations exited between components of resistance and AUDPC while grain yield negatively correlated with components of resistance at different growth stage. Such promising maize accessions and varieties should be explored in the maize breeding programme for sustainable production in Tanzania. Keywords: Maize cultivars, resistance, northern leaf blight, Tanzania

Keywords: Maize cultivars, resistance, northern leaf blight, Tanzania.