COMBINING ABILITY ESTIMATES OF EARLY GENERATION INBRED LINES DERIVED FROM TWO MAIZE POPULATIONS

Abstract

The present research work was aimed at forming a heterotic group based on combining ability estimates of early generation inbreds (51-lines) and their respective crosses. Ten 51-lines were derived from two maize populations namely, Jogia Local and DH8644. The better performing crosses usually had at least one parent with high general combining ability but for ear length. Interpopulation crosses were usually superior to intrapopulation crosses. Nonetheless, a few intrapopulation crosses appeared to be at par with the best performing interpopulation crosses. Based on the mean performance and SCA effects, a total of nine best crosses (20% selection intensity) were used to establish a heterotic group for grain yield which could be used either as improved population or as base population for the next round of improvement.