Utility of anthesis–silking interval information to predict grain yield under water and nitrogen limited conditions

Abstract

AbstractDelayed silking relative to pollen shed, measured as the anthesis–silking interval (ASI, the period between pollen shed and silking), is a good indicator of response to abiotic stresses in maize (Zea mays L.). This research was conducted to investigate how ASI is affected by nitrogen (N) and water availability and to assess the utility of ASI to indirectly predict grain yield (GY) under contrasting water and N treatments. Two experiments were conducted in Hancock, WI, in 2018 and 2019. One experiment (Diverse hybrids) included 302 hybrids resulting from the cross of diverse inbred lines by a single tester evaluated at four different treatment levels resulting from combining nonlimited and low N with nonlimited and low water treatments. The second experiment (NSS FAC) included a set of 408 hybrids derived from the cross of biparental doubled‐haploid lines from 13 factorial populations and evaluated under nonlimited and low N treatments. Anthesis and silk time in growing degree days, and GY (Mg ha−1) were measured. Genomic prediction was assessed using a genomic best linear unbiased prediction model, and predictive ability was calculated as the correlation between genomic predictions and adjusted means in the different treatments. Predictive ability ranged from .15 to .49 for NSS FAC and from .06 to .51 for Diverse hybrids across traits and treatments. The ASI was a good indicator of stress and showed higher heritability than GY in the limited treatments for both experiments; however, it did not improve yield predictability.