COMBINING ABILITY OF MAIZE HYBRIDS FOR THE COMARCA LAGUNERA

Abstract

Combining ability effects had been widely used in plant breeding to estimate the genetic action that control different plant characteristics. In this study it was estimated the combining ability effects of maize (Zea mays L.) and the type of genetic action associated to the phenotipic expression. The genetic material consisted of 100 crosses
derived from crossing 20 comercial hybrids, 10 of them (identified 1 to 10) acted as males and 10 (identified 11 to 20) as females. The information obtained was flowering date (in days after planting), plant height, ear height, green forage yield and dry matter. Results showed a wide genetic variability among males and females. The crosses
5x11, 1x14, 4x20 and 8x19 showed the highest green forage yield and dry matter. Males 5, 9 and 10 and females 11, 19 and 20 showed the best general combining ability effects for all the agronomic characteristics evaluated, except for plant height. Plant height and flowering date were under the control of genetic additive effects, and
ear height, green forage yield and dry matter were under the control of non additive genetic effects. There is a high phenotypic correlation between plant height and ear height and between green forage yield and dry matter.