Evaluation of productivity components and their interrelationships in early-maturing inbred maize families

This study aimed to investigate the formation of productivity and the relationships among traits in early-maturing inbred maize families under the conditions of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine. The research methods included the field evaluation of 302 S4 -S6 families derived from a mixed germplasm pool, as well as multivariate statistical analysis. The highest positive correlation was observed between plant productivity and 1,000-kernel weight (r=0.726) and ear length (r=0.604). Multiple regression confirmed ear length and diameter as the main independent traits for predicting yield. The analysis of main traits explained 69.1% of the phenotypic variance, whilst cluster analysis differentiated the genotypes into eight distinct groups to optimise the selection of parental lines for new hybrids.