Ali Wannows*(1) Samir AL Ahmad(2) Ghassan AL Lahham(1) Razan AL Najjar(1) Elias Aweel(1) and Reem AL Mansour(1)
(1). Maize Research Department, Crops Administration, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.
(2). Agricultural Research Center of Tartous, GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Dr. Ali Wannows. E-Mail: aliwannows@yahoo.com).
Received: 11/02/2017 Accepted: 27/03/2017
Abstract
Half diallel set of crosses between six inbred lines of maize were executed at Maize Research Department, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Syria, during 2010 and 2011 seasons to study heterosis, general and specific combining ability components for grain yield (ton/ha), ear height, length and diameter (cm), and silking date (day) compared with control varieties Basel-1 and the hybrid Spirou S-4-985 to identify the best hybrid in terms of yield. Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) was used with three replicates. General (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining ability mean squares of the inbred lines, and crosses were significant for all traits, except SCA mean square for ear height. This showed the contribution of additive and non-additive gene action in those traits. The ratio of σ2GCA/σ2SCA showed the dominance of additive gene action for ear height and length, but non-additive gene action for grain yield, and silking date. On the other hand, it indicated additive and non-additive gene action for ear diameter. Heterosis of all hybrids for all traits was significant compared with mid and better parents. The results confirmed that the lines IL.766-06, and IL.792-06 had a good GCA for grain yield, while four hybrids had a good SCA, which means the necessity to be included in yield trails, specifically the hybrid (IL.459-06 × IL.292-06) for grain yield.
Key words: Maize, Half diallel cross, GCA, SCA, Heterosis.
Full paper in Arabic: PDF