Efficiency of S2 progeny selection strategies in popcorn

Abstract

Selection among and within inbred families is a common procedure for developing corn inbred lines. The only alternative methods are selection among families, mass selection, or combined selection. Main objective of this work was to assess the relative efficiency of these selection strategies with Sy popcorn progenies, evaluated in an experiment that included 13 rows of the control IAC 112. The predicted gains indicated that selection of families and plants based on yield and expansion volume using the Mulamba and Mock index was superior to direct selection based on expansion volume, in all selection strategies. Mass and combined selection presentetdhe highest predicted quality and yield gains. On the contrary, there was no difference between the realized gains from direct selection and the Mulamba and Mock index based on expansion volume, The best strategy was selection among and within families, providing a mean quality gain of 1.5 mL g! with positive alteration in yield.