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Combining
ability for maize grain yield and other agronomic characters
in a typical southern guinea savanna ecology of Nigeria
Bello, O. B.*
and Olaoye, G.
Department of Agronomy, University of Ilorin, Ilorin,
Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
obbello2002@yahoo.com.
Accepted 22 May, 2009 |
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Field experiments were conducted at the University of Ilorin
Teaching and Research Farm in 2005 and 2006 cropping seasons
with the objective to evaluate the combining ability for
maize grain yield and other agronomic characters in 10 open
pollinated maize varieties, which have been selected for
high yield and stress tolerance. General combining ability (gca)
and year (y) effects were significant for all the parameters
except plant height, while specific combining ability (sca)
and gca x year effects were significant only for grain
yield. However, Tze Comp4 Dmr Srbc2, Tze Comp4 C2 and Acr 94
Tze Comp5 which are good general combiners for maize grain
yield, also showed positive significant gca x year effects
for flowering traits. Significant sca x year interaction
effects were recorded for maize grain yield and days to
flowering, with Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4 combining very well with
3 parents (Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt, Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2 and Tze
Comp4 C2). These parents and their hybrids probably have
genes that can be introgressed into other promising lines in
developing early maturing and high yielding varieties for
cultivation in the Nigeria savannas.
Key words:
Zea mays L., general combining ability, specific
combining ability, grain yield, Nigeria savannas. |
