Canonical correlation between vegetative and productive traits in sweet corn genotypes

Abstract

Associations between different groups of sweet corn traits enable both the direct and indirect selection of plants, thus increasing the chances of success in breeding programs. This study aimed to estimate the relationships between vegetative and productive traits, as well as genotypic values, using canonical correlations and mixed models. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design, with ten genotypes and four replications. The following traits were assessed: plant height, main ear insertion height, yield of ears with and without straw, grain mass, ear length, ear diameter and percentage of commercial ears. The significant correlations obtained in the first canonical pair indicate that an increase in height and main ear insertion height result in a decrease in the percentage of commercial ears and yield of ears without straw, being necessary to select plants with plant height values of less than 2.0 m and first ear insertion height of less than 1.0 m to increase them. It was observed that the plant height and main ear insertion height have the highest heritability, indicating the possibility of genetic gain from the artificial selection.

KEYWORDS: Zea mays, genotypic selection, genetic breeding.