Despite the availability of high numbers of genetic improved maize cultivars, farmers in the Amahlathi Local Municipality (ALM), Frequently grow locally available and cheap cultivars due to financial constraints and lack of agronomic skills and knowledge, resulting in low maize productivity. Hence, the on-farm experiment was conducted at Donqaba village to evaluate the performance of three selected dryland maize cultivars, grown under different agronomic practices in terms of yields obtained. Three dryland maize cultivars (PAN 5R590BR, PAN6R710BR, OKAVANGO) and two agronomic practices namely: farmer cropping practices (FP) (standard farmer’s practices) and recommended agronomic practices (RP) (application of fertilizers and lime are based on soil analysis results and recommendations) were used in the experiment. The treatments were laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. Results revealed that farming systems play a crucial role in the improvement of maize yield. The recommended agronomic practices (RP) shown positive improvement of maize yield. The cultivar PAN6R710BR maize hybrid has performed better in a numerous measured yield attributes compared to OKAVANGO. The interactions between PAN6R710BR and the RP has improved the maize yield. This indicate that the concerted efforts by different actors in the agricultural industry will improve the quality of advice rendered by the extension practitioners to the farmers for improved rural livelihoods and food security in rural communities of the Eastern Cape. The study recommends adoption of synergetic approach to encourage the regular transfer of technical skills and dissemination of information to the farming community through organized workshops and on field trainings. It is recommended that the extension practitioners should encourage the resource limited farmers to apply agro-production inputs based on recommended quantities from soil analysis to attain optimum maize yield.

Keywords: Cultivar, Maize, Yield, Recommended, Agronomic, Practices, farmer, Extension.