Abstract

An effort has been made to identify the maize inbred lines generated from crosses developed through germplasm of Himalayan origin. The analysis of variance for line x tester revealed significant difference among the parents, lines, as well as hybrids for accelerated aging test, osmotic stress test, 100-seed weight and field emergence. On the other hand, testers showed significant differences for accelerated aging test and osmotic stress test. Parents and hybrids revealed significant differences for 100-seed weight and 100-seed volume. The dominance component of variance (σσσσσ2 D) was greater than additive component (σσσσσ2 A) for all the characters across the years and combined over the years which indicated the dominance of non-additive gene action. The predominance of non-additive gene action for all the traits could be exploited in hybrid development.

Keywords: Gene action, maize, additive, non additive, dominance