Genetic variability, heritability, and correlation of hybrids maize agronomy characters adaptive to dry land, medium plains

Abstract

The selection of hybrid maize plants that adapt to dry land in the medium plains is very important considering the very widely available such land in Indonesia, so the existence of adaptive varieties is needed. Information on agronomic characters of adaptive hybrid maize is the basic information for character selection to make the breeding program more effective. The study aims to determine the genetic variability, heritability, and correlation of hybrid maize agronomic characters tested in dry land of medium plains. The genetic material used 22 maize hybrids, arranged in randomized block design with 3 replications. The experiment was carried out in Polewali Mandar Regency, West Sulawesi from June to September 2021. The results showed the characters that were strongly influenced by the environment were ear position height, stem diameter, male and female flowering time, and shelling percentage. The characters of stem diameter, male and female flowering time, and shelling percentage can be used for selection characters in the advanced generations. The characters that had significantly positively correlated with yield characters were plant height, leaf width, ear diameter, harvested ear weight, and weight of 1000 kernels, while the character that had negatively correlated with yield was kernel moisture content.