ARS | Publication request: YIELD POTENTIAL OF GEM PROJECT BREEDING CROSSES

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 15, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The objective of the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize Project (GEM) is to provide to the maize industry materials developed using germplasm enhancement of useful exotic germplasm. The enhancement protocol is for one of the 22 private cooperating companies to cross an exotic material by a proprietary inbred line to make a 50% exotic breeding cross, then for another private cooperator to cross the 50% cross with their proprietary line of the same heterotic pattern to make a 25% exotic breeding cross. In 1996, cooperative yield testing involved 16 experiments grown in more than six locations, evaluating 564 testcrossed 50% and 25% exotic breeding crosses. From these results, breeding crosses were selected for advancement to line development. Some results are similar to the mean of the checks or better, thus we expect the testcrosses of the best lines developed from these breeding crosses to be superior to the check hybrids. Any line selected through this procedure will probably need agronomic improvement, however, so they will be used as breeding lines in a commercial breeding program.