Selection of Tropical Inbred Lines for Yield and Morpho-agronomical Traits in Maize (Zea mays L.)

Aim: To determine the genetic parameters and the magnitude of association between yield and morpho-agronomical traits to improve the efficiency of selection in further crossing programme for high density planting.

Study Design: Randomized Block Design with two replications.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted at Maize Research Centre, Agricultural Research Institute, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad in Kharif 2023.

Methodology: The present investigation was carried out to asses correlation, cause and cause effect relationship among 52 maize tropical inbred lines for the morpho-agronomical traits such as Number of leaves above the ear, Number of leaves below the ear, Tassel branch number, Tassel main axis length (cm), Plant height (cm), Ear height (cm), Leaf angle, Leaf length, Leaf width, Total number of leaves per plant which influences the leaf and stem architecture of maize.

Results: Results suggested that traits like plant height, total number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, No. of Kernels per row, No. of rows per cob and shelling percent were important for selection of genotypes as these traits recorded moderate to high range of GCV, PCV, heritability, genetic advance over mean and exhibited positive significant correlations along with direct effects on yield/cob for some of the mentioned traits. So, these traits were taken into consideration for selection of promising inbred lines GP88, PFSR29, PFSR32, PFSR51, BML6, BML20 among 52 genotypes for further crossing programme.