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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Exploiting grain-filling rate and effective grain-filling duration to improve grain yield of early-maturing maize
Crop Science, Volume 53, No. 6, Year 2013
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Description
Early-maturing maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes yield 15 to 30% less than late-maturing genotypes. One strategy for improving grain yield in the early-maturing group involves assessment of grain-filling traits as secondary traits for selection for high grain yield. In this study, we investigated the possibility of using grainfilling rate and duration for improving grain yield in early-maturing tropical maize. Forty-four hybrids generated using North Carolina design II were evaluated at CIMMYT-Zimbabwe during the 2011/2012 season under irrigated and nonirrigated environments. Although grain-filling rate and effective grain-filling duration were negatively correlated, several hybrids were distinctly above the trend line. The earliest-maturing hybrid took 127 d to reach physiological maturity and produced grain yields comparable to those of the medium-maturing genotypes (7 t ha-1). It had a high grain-filling rate of 2.40 g per plant d-1 (18% higher than those of the lowyielding hybrids) and a relatively longer effective grain-filling duration. Grain-filling rate and effective grain-filling duration had high coefficients of genetic determination, positive correlations with grain yield, low error terms, and low genotype × environment interactions, making them appropriate selection traits for improved grain yield. The study shows that it is possible to develop high-yielding early- to medium-maturing maize hybrids based on favorable combining ability values for grain-filling rate and duration. © Crop Science Society of America.
Authors & Co-Authors
Gasura, Edmore
Zimbabwe, Harare
University of Zimbabwe
Setimela, Peter S.
Zimbabwe, Harare
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
Edema, Richard
Uganda, Kampala
Makerere University
Gibson, Paul T.
United States, Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Okori, Patrick
Uganda, Kampala
Makerere University
Tarekegne, Amsal T.
Zimbabwe, Harare
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
Statistics
Citations: 37
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.2135/cropsci2013.01.0032
ISSN:
0011183X
e-ISSN:
14350653
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Study Locations
Zimbabwe