Genetic gains in popcorn by full-sib recurrent selection

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the genetic progress in the fourth selection cycle of full-sibpopcorn families. Two hundred families were evaluated for six agronomic traits, including grain yield (GY) and poppingexpansion (PE), in a random block design with two replications, in sets in two different environments: Campos dos Goytacazesand Itaocara, in the State of Rio de Janeiro. There were significant differences among families within sets in all traits,indicating the presence of genetic variability to be exploited in the future cycles. The family by environment in the sets for GYand PE was significant but simple, indicating the possibility of conducting a single breeding program for both locations. Therelease of the improved variety for producers of the Northern and Northwestern regions of the State of Rio de Janeiro isexpected after the fifth cycle.

Keywords

• Zea mays
• recurrent selection
• genetic gains
• variety release.