Abstract

                                The presence of high genetic diversity in physiological traits among maizeinbreds had scope for improving the inbreds for better canopy architecture.Eight maize inbreds were characterized by twelve morpho-physiologicaltraits and four yield-related traits. Among the physiological traits, thephotosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is evenly distributed in S38,S157, S289, and S322 inbreds at the canopy level. Leaf Dry Matter (LDM)had positive association (r = 0.734*) for 100 kernel weight. In PrincipalComponent Analysis (PCA), the first two PCs were used to construct thebiplot where the total number of kernels, cob girth, Average Growth Rate(AGR), and leaf dry matter had a positive association with S157, S322, andD164 inbreds. The inbred S157 recorded high leaf dry matter (47.55 g),more cob length (20.43 cm), more 100-kernel weight (39.32 g) and moreaverage growth rate (6.18 g/day). Hence, S157 is considered as the bestideotype for the developing high yielding maize hybrids based on bettercanopy architecture.

Key words : Maize, Morpho-physiological traits, Descriptive statistics, PCA, Genetic diversity