Erect-leaf maize breeding for high-density cultivation

Abstract

The ideotype plant is a combination of different types of biological traits or the genetic basis that refer to the enhanced performance for a particular biophysical environment, adaptation to the stress of high population density. The breeding of maize varieties with erect leaves for high-density cultivation was targeted by the research group of the Crops Research and Development Institute for the period of 2015-2025. Selecting inbred lines in the direction of stand foliage plants applied both traditional methods (inbred, fullsib) and modern methods (MAS, DH). From 2010 to 2016, the group evaluated and selected 5 erect-leaf inbred lines, including B3 (E4), B6, L901, H2161 and T1691 based on the phenotype and molecular markers; and 3 lines including B6, H246, H13412 which had short duration and high yield (above 2.5 ton/ha). The B3, B6, H2161, L901 and T1691 which had a high specific combining ability were parents in some crosses as VNUA36, VNUA17, and VNUA18. VNUA36 was the cross that have compact plant architecture, so it would be adaptable to high-density cultivation. This is the initial success of the research group in breeding a stand foliage hybrid named VNUA36. VNUA36 has been approved and duplicated for production in the Northern Vietnam.