Performances of selected tropical white maize single-cross hybrids for yield and yield attributing traits

In Ghana, the production of hybrid maize is at its infant stage, occupying only about 3% of the area devoted for maize production. Therefore, the yields of this crop are low, 1.7 t ha-1 due to the use of open pollinated varieties (OPVs), shortage of high yielding varieties, biotic and abiotic stresses. Thus, the present study was designed to identify superior crosses based on their agronomic performance. Thirty-two hybrids and three checks were evaluated using a 5 x 7 alpha lattice design replicated twice at the University of Ghana, WACCI research farm during 2015/-16 offseason using drip irrigation. Analysis of variance revealed that genotype mean squares were highly significant (P < 0.001) for days to 50% anthesis and silking, plant and ear height, plant aspect, ear length, number of kernel rows ear-1, number of kernels row-1 and yield. Similarly, mean squares of genotypes were significant (p ≤ 0.05) for ear rots, anthesis-silking interval, and husk cover. Based on the mean grain yield performance, six promising single crosses, L8 x T2, L1 x T2, L16 x T1, L16 x T2  L4 x T2,  L9 x T1 having grain yield of 6377, 6011, 5848, 5222, 5150 and 5135 kg ha-1, respectively were identified as possible candidates for release after establishing the stability of their performance in multi-locational trials and should be promoted for adoption and commercialization in the country.   Key words: Grain yield, hybrids, maize, single crosses.