Abstract:
Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal crop in the Sudan due to its multipurpose uses as human food, animal feed and many industrial purposes. The objective of the study was to evaluate the genetic variability and interrelationships of grain yield and its components of some genotypes. An experiment was conducted at two locations (Wad Medani and Sinnar) in season 2014/2015 to test 14 genotypes (HSD3543, HSD4290, HSD4309, HSD4333, HSD5514, HSD5529, HSD4336, HSD5012, HSD5513, HSD6710, HSD4294 and three checks of maize for their grain yield and yield components. These genotypes were obtained from the gene bank of the Agricultural Research Corporation at Wad Medani. They were tested using an augmented design. They were days to 50% silking, plant height, ear diameter, number of kernels per row, 100-kernel weight and grain yield. Results showed highly significant differences in days to silking at Wad Medani (65 days) and ear diameter at Sinnar (3.6 cm). There were no significant differences among genotypes in plant height, number of kernels per row, 100-kernel weight and grain yield at both locations. The highest heritability was 51 % estimate for days to silking at Wad Medani while that for ear diameter at Sinnar was 30.9%. Grain yield showed medium and positive correlation (0.60) with plant height. Since genotypes HSD 4333(593 kg/ha) at Wad Medani, HSD 5012 (566 kg/ha) at Sinnar and HSD 4333 (543 kg/ha) showed a considerable high yield potential, they were recommended for more investigation in future research work to assess their yields under different environments
Description:
A Dissertation, Submitted to the University of Gezira in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of ,Master of Science,
in, Crop Science (Plant Breeding), Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, February, 2017
