Cold stress damage is one of the main meteorological disasters that can befall maize
production, especially in northern regions and high-altitude areas in mountainous
regions. This study was aimed to characterize a set of 164 maize inbreds for cold tolerance
and identify the most promising maize inbreds for cold tolerance in the north western
Himalayas of state Jammu and Kashmir, India at Mountain Crop Research Station, Larnoo,
SKUAST-K, J&K, India . We investigated chilling-induced responses in 164 maize inbred
lines through field-based evaluation utilizing the Cold Tolerance Rating (CTR) and
controlled-environment assessment employing the electrolyte leakage assay. Inbreds were
screened for cold tolerance using a rating scale of 1–5 and cell membrane stability under cold
stress was tested through electrolyte leakage tests from the damaged leaves. SMI-11 was
identified as the most cold-tolerant source followed by SMI-127 and L-17 with a slight
increase in the electrolyte leakage compared to SMI-11. The identified inbreds offer a strong
basis for developing cold-tolerant maize varieties and could be exploited as parental lines in
hybrid development which may improve the resilience and productivity of maize under cold
environments.