Standard Heterosis of Maize (Zea mays L.) Inbred Lines for Grain Yield and Yield Related Traits in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Abstract

A line x tester analysis involving forty eight test-crosses generated by crossing 24 elite maize inbred lines with two testers and four standard checks was conducted for agronomic traits such as grain yield, thousand kernel weight, number of rows per ear, number of ears per plant, number of days to anthesis and silking, plant and ear heights during 2010 cropping season at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center. The objective of the study was to estimate the amount of standard heterosis of the hybrids for grain yield and yield related traits. The genotypes were evaluated in 6x9 alpha lattice design replicated twice. From this study, Substantial standard heterosis was noticed for all studied traits. For grain yield, the highest standard heterosis was recorded for L4 x T2 (89.24%) followed by L10 x T2 (78.53%) over BHQPY-545 and 131.20% and 118.12% over Melkassa-2, respectively, indicating the presence of substantial heterotic potential that could be exploited in maize breeding program and possibility of developing desirable cross combinations and synthetic varieties through crossing and or recombination of inbred lines with desirable traits of interest.

Keywords: Heterosis; line x tester; maize; yield