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Evaluation of Carribean Maize Accessions to Develop a Core Subset
Author(s) -
Taba Suketoshi,
Diaz Jaime,
Franco Jorge,
Crossa José
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1998.0011183x003800050037x
Subject(s) - germplasm , biology , agronomy , tropics , grain yield , horticulture , ecology
Core subsets of germplasm collections facilitate their evaluation and use. Field evaluations were conducted to develop a core subset of Caribbean maize ( Zea mays L.) accessions from the CIMMYT maize germplasm bank. Most accessions were from the West Indies and others were from Central and South America. The accessions were divided into two trials of 249 accessions and seven common checks that were evaluated in a 16 by 16 α‐lattice design with two replications. The trials were planted in two seasons at two sites in Mexico during 1992 through 1994. Data were taken on agronomic and morphological traits and the combined analysis was performed by a mixed linear model. The adjusted means of plant height, ear height, senescence, ear diameter, ear length, days to silk, days to anthesis, moisture (%), rating on ease of shelling, and number kernel rows were used to cluster accessions into homogeneous groups. Twelve non‐overlapping clusters were formed and patterns of phenotypic diversity among and within clusters were determined using canonical discriminant analysis. A selection index based on yield (Mg ha −1 ), ear rot (%), erect plants (%), and moisture (%) was calculated for each accession. The upper 20% of the accessions (100 in total) which represent the phenotypic diversity of the clusters and have superior selection indexes were used to form a core subset of the Caribbean maize collection.