Abstract

SANTIAGO-LOPEZ, Norma et al. Grain yield of Tuxpeño corn populations adapted to High Valleys de México. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2017, vol.8, n.1, pp.147-158. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v8i1.78.

This work aimed to evaluate the agronomic behavior of maize (Zea mays L.) Tuxpeño adapted to High valleys. Four populations of Tuxpeño corn were evaluated in their versions of cycle one (misfit) and cycle seven (adapted): P1(C1), P1(C7); P2(C1), P2(C7); P3(C1), P3(C7), and P4(C1), P4(C7); four crosses of Chalqueño compounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 by P4 (C10), three crosses of populations P1, P2, and P3 by P4 (C10); and three witnesses: H-S2, Promesa and San Jose. The evaluation was done in the spring-summer cycle of 2013, in fields of the College of Postgraduates and the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research, Texcoco, State of Mexico, under a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The experimental plot had 26 mats of two plants each 50 cm in two rows of 6 m separated to 0.8 m. The grain yield of the materials and other agronomic characteristics were measured. The results indicated that exotic adapted populations yielded up to 6 t ha-1, significantly exceeding the original varieties, although they had a late vegetative cycle and were of lower height. Performance components had significant increases in populations; the crosses of Tuxpeño*Chalqueño yielded from 13 to 14 t ha-1, surpassing the commercial hybrids, San Jose and H-S2. This shows the existence of heterosis in the crosses and that tropical exotic corn adapted in High Valleys is a useful resource for genetic improvement.

Keywords : Zea mays L.; adaptation; crosses; selection; tropical maize.