Study of genetic parameters and cluster analysis for genotypes of maize (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

In this study, five genotypes of maize (Zea mays L.) were used, which were sourced from Al-Dabbana Company for Modern Agriculture Ltd., where the seeds were planted in fallseason 2022 in the fields of a farmer in Nineveh Governorate, and the following traits were studied:Number of days to tassling, number of days to silking,  plant height, number of leaves on plant^-1,leaf area of the main ear, number of ears on plant^-1, ear length, number of rows on ear^-1, number of grains on row^-1, number of grains on ear^-1, weight of 100 grains and yield of individual plant.The results of the analysis of variance showed that the genotypes were significant for all the studied traits, and that the values of genetic, phenotypic and environmental variation were also significant for all traits, while the values of the coefficient of genetic and phenotypic variation (GCV%,PCV%)were medium for the number of grains on ear^-1 and the yield of an individual plant, and low for the other traits. The heritability values in the broad sense showed that they were high for most of the traits, and the expected genetic improvement was average for most of the traits. The results of the cluster analysis showed that the genotypes were distributed into three main groups. The first group included the Reserave genotype. The second group included the genotype 215482, while the third group was divided into two subgroups, the first secondary group included the genotype 215479, and the second secondary group included the Konsens and Jameson genotypes.