YIELD POTENTIAL OF SINGLE, THREE-WAY AND DOUBLE CROSS COMMERCIAL HYBRIDS MAIZE

• Main Authors: BEATRIZ MARTI EMYGDIO, JOÃO CARLOS IGNACZAK, ALBERTO CARGNELUTTI FILHO
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Milho e Sorgo 2007-04-01
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Milho e Sorgo
• Subjects: Zea mays L.; cultivars; types of maize hybrids; comparative performance
• Online Access: http://rbms.cnpms.embrapa.br/index.php/ojs/article/view/215/217

In Rio Grande do Sul state, 45% of the commercial maize cultivars are single cross, 27% are three-way cross and 28% are double cross hybrids. The purpose of this study was to evaluate comparative performance and yield potential of different types of maize hybrids. The study used commercial maize hybrids, evaluated at RS state in the regional maize testing network, and conducted in 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05 cropping seasons. Hybrids were clustered according to the maturity period in two groups of trials, i.e. early and extra-early. Inside each group, the hybrids were classified as the type of cross, in single cross (HS), three-way cross (HT) and double cross (HD). The F test was used to evaluate the contrasts among types of hybrids (HS versus HT, HS versus HD and HT versus HD), to each cropping season, inside both maturing groups. Averaged across environments, statistically significant differences were shown among types of hybrids in both maturing groups. The average superiority of the single crosses over the double crosses, in grain yield, was 12% to the early maturing group and 16% to the extra-early maturing group. In considering the individual performance of the highest-yielding and the lowest-yielding hybrid inside each group, the superiority relation between the different categories of hybrids changed. Some double hybrids out-yielded some single and threeway cross hybrids, indicating that it is unsuitable to generalize inferences about yield potential of different maize hybrids based on the type of cross.