GENETIC ANALYSIS OF RESISTANCE TO EUROPEAN CORN BORER (\u3ci\u3eOSTRINIA NUBlLALlS\u3c/i\u3e HUB. LEPiDOPTERA:CRAMBIDAE) DAMAGE IN EIGHT MAIZE GERMPLASM

The inheritance of resistance to Oslrinia nubilalis (ECB) damage in eight breeding maize lines was studied by Griffing\u27s diallel analysis (Griffing 1956) under two water regimes. One hundred fifty neonate larvae of second generation of ECB were infested around ear node of maize germplasm and approximately two months later, the potentials of the germplasm were determined by measuring stalk and shank tunneling damage in plants. General combining ability (GCA) was more important than specific combining ability (SCA) in determining resistance to both stalk and shank tunneling. Although mean squares for GCA accounted for 76.1% of the variation for stalk tunneling and 70.6% of the variation for shank tunneling, the performance of some crosses between resistant and susceptible lines indicated some dominant genes may have role in resistance mechanism. In general, the results suggest that resistance may be improved with recurrent selection methods within this germplasm