Evaluation of S1 Maize (Zea mays L.) Families at Seedling Stage under Drought Conditions

Syed Sadaqat Mehdi, Nadeem Ahmad and Muhammad Ahsan

Highly significant differences were found among S1 maize families and treatments for all indicated traits except dry root weight which was non- significant among treatments. Treatments × S1 families interaction was found significant for fresh shoot weight, dry shoot weight and fresh shoot length. The values of coefficient of variation for fresh shoot weight was found to higher than fresh root weight, dry root weight and dry shoot weight. Broad-sense heritability estimates were ranging between 54.27-83.99 percent for indicated seedling traits. Positive and linear inter-relationships were found among all indicated traits. It is therefore suggested on the basis of broad-sense heritability, coefficient of variation estimates and positive linear relationships that dry root weight may be more useful selection criteria, while selecting for superior S1 maize families for water stress conditions.

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