Field Performance of Three-way Cross Yellow and White Maize Hybrids in Nepal
Mahendra Prasad Tripathi
National Maize Research Program, Rampur / Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal.
Keshab Babu Koirala
National Maize Research Program, Rampur / Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal.
Damodar Gautam
*
National Maize Research Program, Rampur / Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal.
Subash Subedi
National Maize Research Program, Rampur / Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal.
Jharana Upadhyay
National Maize Research Program, Rampur / Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal.
Hari Kumar Shrestha
Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project / CIMMYT, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Abdu Rahman Beshir Issa
Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project / CIMMYT, Kathmandu, Nepal.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Maize hybrids can increase production, bridge the yield gap, and boost up domestic production in Nepal. Three-way cross hybrid introduces an alternative to produce low cost hybrid seed for resource poor farmers. A study was performed to identify promising yellow and white maize hybrids developed by International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), Mexico in Rampur, Nepal. Nineteen three-way cross white maize hybrids with two checks and seventeen yellow maize hybrids with one check were tested in field experiments on 2017 and 2018. Treatments were replicated twice in α-lattice design with each experimental plot of 9.6-m2 (4-m × 2.4-m). AF17A-426-13/14, AF17A-426-1/2, AF17A-426-28/39, and AF17A-426-15/16 were the three-way cross white hybrids produced grain yield of more than 9000 kg ha-1. Similarly, AF17A-473-20/29 and AF17A-473-18/27 yielded about 9000 kg ha-1 among the three-way cross yellow maize hybrids. These hybrids have commercial potentials to increase maize yield in Nepal if the provided parents are successful in the seed production.
Keywords: Hybrids, three-way cross, white maize, yellow maize