Combining ability for grain yield, silking date, plant and ear height traits in maize (zea mays L.)‎ under different environments

Abstract EN

Three pheno-morphological and yield traits in a set of 15 F1 hybrids of six inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.) were produced in 2008 at the Maize Researches Department and evaluated in 2009 at three locations i.e.

Agriculture Scientific Research Center at Hama, Dir Al-Zor and Aleppo.

Mean squares of locations, hybrids and hybrids × locations were significant for all traits, it means that hybrid behavior changed from location to another.

Mean squares of general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining ability confirmed the high consequence of both additive and non-additive gene action on the inheritance of these traits.

Also, interaction between GCA × locations and SCA × locations were significant for all studied traits except SCA × locations for plant height and grain yield suggesting that "location" is considered that non-additive gene effects played major role in inheritance of grain yield, plant and ear height, while additive gene effects were the most important in inheritance of silking date.

GCA effects showed that the inbred line P4 (IL.358-06) was a good combiner for grain yield also, SCA effects indicated that the hybrids P4×P6, P4×P5 and P2×P6 were the best combinations for grain yield.