Grain yield stability of single cross maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids over three different environments

An investigation was conducted to determine the grain yield performance of seventy two single cross maize hybrids, their nine parents and one commercial check across three seasons (Summer, Kharif and Rabi) of the year 2006 at the Department of Millets, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The design lay out was a randomized blocks design with three replications. The additive main effects and multiplicative interactions (AMMI) analysis indicated that the grain yield performance of maize genotypes were mainly due to genotypes and environmental interaction. The first two principal component axis (IPCA I and IPCA II) were significant (p<0.01) and cumulatively contributed to entire degrees of freedom available for interaction component. The biplot 1 and 2 were constructed using genotype and environmental mean and scores. Among parents, UMI 432 was found to be higher yielder and stable across environments. The single crosses namely UMI 79 x UMI 176, UMI 79 x UMI 57, UMI 79 x UMI 936 (w), UMI 79 x UMI 285, UMI 176 x UMI 102, UMI 176 x UMI 936 (w), UMI 432 x UMI 176, UMI 467 x UMI 57 and UMI 57 x UMI 102 were identified as stable yielder across environments in addition to higher yield. These hybrids can be recommended for all the three seasons for cultivation.