Assessment of longevity of single cross maize hybrids and parental lines
Abstract
Maize is the Queen of Cereals and has proven its utility as food, feed, fodder, fuel and raw materials for many industries. In order to meet the ever increasing demand of maize, the hybrid seed production plays an important role. The hybrid performance is based on its parental inbred potential and longevity. Accelerated ageing test is an efficient method to measure the seed vigour and to predict seed longevity. Single cross maize hybrids viz., CoH(M) 6, CoH(M) 8 and their parental lines viz., UMI 1200 (female parent of CoH(M) 6), UMI 1201 (female parent of CoH(M) 8) and UMI 1230 (common male parent of CoH(M) 6 and CoH(M) 8) were subjected to accelerated ageing test at 40 ± 1 ﹾC and 100 per cent relative humidity for a period of 10 days. The results of the study revealed that the hybrid seeds of CoH(M) 6 maintained their viability for a longer period up to four days when compared to CoH(M) 8 which maintaining its viability up to third day of accelerated ageing as per Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standard (90 per cent germination). All the inbreds lost their viability after the first day of accelerated ageing and the rate of deterioration was higher in UMI 1230. The other parameters like seedling length (cm), dry matter production (g/10 seedlings) and vigour index decreased upon ageing and electrical conductivity (dsm-1) increased with increase in accelerated ageing periods.
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