Popcorn parental selection based on genetic divergence
Valéria Carpentieri-Pípolo; Flávio André Martins da Silva and Adilson Luiz Seifert
Nine popcorn genotypes were assessed for eight traits and their genetic divergence was estimated by multivariated techniques to identify parents for inclusion in breeding programs involvin hybridization. The nine genotypes were divided into two groups by the Tocher method using the generalized Mahalanobis distances. The popping expansion, popcorn size and grain mass per plant were considered the most important agronomic traits for selecting parents for crossing. Using the divergence and these trait scores as criteria for crossing, the crosses between genotype 9 (group II) and genotypes 8, 3, 7, and 5 (group I) were recommended. Therefore, only four (11%) out of 36 possible (diallel) crosses among the nine assessed genotypes would be made.