Performance of Maize Single-Cross Hybrids Evaluated on Acidic Soils

Abstract — Soil acidity is one of a number of limiting factor of maize production. Planting maize hybrid varieties tolerant to acid soils along with the use of sustainable agronomic practices offers an effective solution for improving maize productivity on acidic soils. Thirty-six single-cross hybrids derived from a 9x9 diallel cross, nine parental inbred lines and two check varieties i.e. a commercial hybrid and a composite variety Sukmaraga were evaluated in 2013 on acid aluminum-toxic soil at Limau Manis Padang in a Randomized Complete Block design in order to evaluate and select maize hybrids for high yield potential in acid soils and tolerant to acid soils. Data were subjected to the analysis of variance using the Proc GLM of the SAS software, while analysis of diallel was conducted using DIALLEL-SAS05 software. Results showed that several hybrids which were progenies of crossess between acid soil-tolerant or moderately acid soil-tolerant inbred lines revealed high grain yield on acidic soils. The hybrids also revealed high heterosis magnitudes and high and positive specific combining abilities, low yield reduction and stress sensitivity indices, while they revealed high relative yield and stress tolerance indices. Hence, it is suggested that these promising hybrids can be further evaluated in large scale locational trials on acidic soils