TASSEL AND LEAVES REMOVAL IN MALE STERILE AND MALE-FERTILE PARENTAL GENOTYPES OF THREE-WAY MAIZE HYBRIDS ‘H-47’ AND ‘H-49’

Abstract

The effect of removing tassel and lamina of upper leaves from female parents of two single crosses of three-way maize hybrids ‘H-47’ and ‘H-49’, both in male sterile and fertile, versions, on seed yield components and some morphological traits, were tested. Experiments were setup at two plant densities in three locations of the Mexican High Valleys (> 2200 masl). In each location a 2 x 2 x 4 x 2 factorial arrangement (2 genotypes, 2 male sterile/fertile versions, 4 de-tasseling levels and 2 plant densities) was employed in a completely randomized design with four replications. A combined analysis of variance across locations was performed. The single cross ‘H-47’ yielded more seed (P ≤ 0.05) than ‘H-49’. The male-sterile versions of the two single crosses performed similar to the fertile one. The elimination of one or two leaves did not significantly affect seed yield. There were no differences in seed yield between the two population densities.