Prediction of popcorn hybrid and composite means
Ramon Macedo Rangel, Antonio Teixeira do Amaral Júnior, Alexandre Pio Viana, Silvério de Paiva Freitas Júnior, and Messias Gonzaga Pereira
The objectives of this study were to evaluate the combining ability of 10 popcorn populations in a circulant diallel; to test the viability of superior hybrids; and to identify genetic composites for intrapopulation breeding. In four contrasting environments, 30 treatments were evaluated for grain yield (GY), plant height (PLH) and popping expansion (PE), in a random block design with four replications. Results indicated that the evaluation of treatments in a larger group of environments favors the expression of variability in genotypes. The additive effects for PE and the dominance effects for GY and PLH were highest. GY and PE of the combinations UNB2U-C1 x Angela and Braskalb x Angela were outstanding. The predicted mean PE and GY were highest for hybrid UNB2U-C1 x Angela and the composite formed by these parents (26.54 mL g-1 and 1,446.09 kg ha-1 respectively).