Elite general and specific combiners for high sugar contentand green ear yield in sweet corn (Zea mays L. saccharata)

M.   VANIPRAVEENA; S. C.   TALEKAR; RAJASHEKHAR  M.    KACHAPUR; S.  I.   HARLAPUR

M. VANIPRAVEENA Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Dharwad
S. C. TALEKAR All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project, Agricultural Research Station, Mugad
RAJASHEKHAR M. KACHAPUR All India Coordinated Maize Improvement Project, MARS, Dharwad
S. I. HARLAPUR All India Coordinated Maize Improvement Project, MARS, Dharwad

Keywords: Green corn, Green ear yield, Reciprocal effects, Sweet corn

Abstract

Forty-two F1 crosses developed using seven parents crossed in full diallel mating design during rabi 2018 wereevaluated in randomized complete block design during kharif 2019 along with parents and four checks viz., Misti, CentralMaize VL Sweet corn 1 and Madhuri to estimate GCA effects of parents, SCA effects and reciprocal effects of crosses toidentify potential combiners to exploit heterosis. The mean sum of squares due to gca, sca and reciprocal effects weresignificant for all the thirteen characters. The parents such as SC Sel 1, SC Sel 2, SC Sel 3 and SC Syn were identified aspotent general combiners for green ear yield, fodder weight, TSS and for other important yield attributing traits. Therefore,these genotypes could be used to develop base material to improve both yield and quality traits. The cross combinationsKH1831 × SC Sel 2, SC Sel 2 × SC Syn, SC Sel 2 × SC Sel 3 and KH1831 × SC Sel 1 were potential with significant scaeffects. These crosses can be directlyused in heterosis breeding in sweet corn for yield and quality traits.The presence ofreciprocal differences for green ear yield and its components suggested the influence of plasma genes in the expression ofthese traits.