Evaluation of two seed production cycles in two varieties of black corn (<em>Zea mays</em> L.) in Tumbaco, Pichincha

Abstract

Corn, Zea mays, is a traditional crop in the Andean region. Nowadays, the national corn production in Ecuador is mainly focused on the types known as hard yellow and soft kernels. In the case of purple corn, small farmers have stopped its growth due to low yield production and lack of certified seeds, thus seed production of purple corn could help to increase the supply of this product and its derivatives. On the other hand, several health benefits are attributed to the purple maize due to the content of anthocyanins (antioxidants) in the kernels. This study aimed to efficiently produce seeds of two varieties of purple corn; the seeds were produced under the half-sibs system, where 44 families per variety were evaluated. The evaluations took place during two production cycles. In the first production cycle of variety B, the total yield seed production estimated was 2.57 ton/ha, while variety A presented an irregular behavior due to the environmental influence during the productive process, thus the yield seed production couldn’t be estimated. On the second production cycle, variety A had a seed yield of 3.34 ton/ha while the seed yield ofB was 3.09 ton/ha.

Keywords

• Zea mays L
• maíz morado
• antocianinas
• variedad
• rendimiento