Maize is one of the most important crops in the world. Its yield accounts for 41.5% of China′s gross grain yield. Stalk rot seriously destabilizes maize production， reducing both yield and quality， and complicating mechanized harvesting. Furthermore， the pathogens causing stalk rot produce mycotoxins that contaminate roughage forage and hazard the safety of livestock. Up to date， more than 30 fungal species causing maize stalk rot have been identified， among which Fusarium spp. and Pythium spp. are predominant in China. Common methods for assessing maize resistance to stalk rot include soil inoculation， root injury method， drilling inoculation， and toothpick method. Several germplasm accessions with stable stalk rot resistance have been identified from thousands of resources. Genetic analysis and gene mining resulted in identification and mapping of 46 resistance loci. Two genes， ZmCCT and ZmAuxRP1， have been cloned and their mechanisms have been explored. There are still few examples of resistant maize varieties with high yield and quality cultivated widely in production. This article reviews the advances in maize stalk rot resistance research， such as pathogen diversity and regional distribution， mycotoxins， identification of resistant germplasm resources， resistance genetics， gene mining and cloning， and mechanism exploration. current problems and future prospects are proposed， aiming to provide a reference for further research on maize resistance against stalk rot.