African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 8 (11), pp.

2518-2522, 3 June, 2009

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB
ISSN 16845315 2009 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Combining ability for maize grain yield and other

agronomic characters in a typical southern guinea
savanna ecology of Nigeria
Bello, O. B.* and Olaoye, G.
Department of Agronomy, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
Accepted 22 May, 2009

Field experiments were conducted at the University of Ilorin Teaching and Research Farm in 2005 and
2006 cropping seasons with the objective to evaluate the combining ability for maize grain yield and
other agronomic characters in 10 open pollinated maize varieties, which have been selected for high
yield and stress tolerance. General combining ability (gca) and year (y) effects were significant for all
the parameters except plant height, while specific combining ability (sca) and gca x year effects were
significant only for grain yield. However, Tze Comp4 Dmr Srbc2, Tze Comp4 C2 and Acr 94 Tze Comp5
which are good general combiners for maize grain yield, also showed positive significant gca x year
effects for flowering traits. Significant sca x year interaction effects were recorded for maize grain yield
and days to flowering, with Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4 combining very well with 3 parents (Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt,
Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2 and Tze Comp4 C2). These parents and their hybrids probably have genes that
can be introgressed into other promising lines in developing early maturing and high yielding varieties
for cultivation in the Nigeria savannas.
Key words: Zea mays L., general combining ability, specific combining ability, grain yield, Nigeria savannas.
INTRODUCTION
Maize production in the southern guinea savanna (SGS)
of Nigeria is constrained by several factors including
drought, low soil nutrient status and susceptibility to pests
and diseases as well as poor adaptation to the agro-ecologies (Olaoye et al., 2004). Maize breeders have therefore devoted effort to developing superior genotypes for
grain yield and adaptation to the different stress factors
(Olaoye et al., 2005). To establish a sound basis for any
breeding programme, aimed at achieving higher yield,
breeders must have information on the nature of
combining ability of parents, their behaviour and
performance in hybrid combination (Chawla and Gupta,
1984). Such knowledge of combining ability is essential
for selection of suitable parents for hybridization and
identification of promising hybrids for the development of
improved varieties for a diverse agro-ecology such as the
SGS of Nigeria (Alabi et al., 1987). Combining ability of
an inbred rests on its ability to produce superior hybrids

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

in combination with other inbreds. General combining ability (gca) as defined by Sprague and Tatum (1942) is the
average performance of a genotype in hybrid combination while specific combining ability (sca) as those
cases in which certain combinations perform relatively
better or worse than would be expected on the basis of
the average performance. Falconer (1989) observed that
gca is directly related to the breeding value of the parent
and is associated with additive genetic effects, while sca
is associated with non-additive such as dominance, epistatic and genotype x environment interaction effects
(Rojas and Sprague, 1952).
Estimate of combining ability using diallel-mating
design has been widely used to provide information on
the performance of parental populations and their heterotic pattern in crosses, identify heterotic groups and
predict performance of new populations (composites)
derived from such crosses (Miranda Filho, 1985). This
approach has been used in identifying suitable maize
genotypes for improvement of grain yield and other
agronomic traits (Castilo-Gozalez and Goodman, 1989;
Iken and Olakojo, 2002), adaptation to tropical environ-

Bello and Olaoye

2519

Table 1. Combined analyses of variance across years for maize agronomic characters at Ilorin (Nigeria).

Source of
variation
Year
GCA
SCA
GCA x Year
SCA x Year
Pooled error
2
2
s/ g

Df

1
9
45
9
45
108

Maize
establishment
count
0.72*
0.75*
0.03
0.14
0.82*
0.06
0.011

Days to
50%
tasselling
1.44*
1.23*
0.56
0.70
2.10*
0.01
0.023

Days to
50%
silking
1.38*
0.97*
0.65
0.58
1.21*
0.07
0.015

Anthesissilking
interval (days)
0.57*
1.02*
0.48
0.39
1.36*
0.03
0.045

Plant
height
(cm)
0.15
0.28
0.32
0.25
0.32
0.03
0.032

Grain
yield
-1
t/ha
0.75*
0.68*
0.72*
0.96*
0.65*
0.05
0.038

*, ** Significant at < 0.05 and 0.01 levels of probability, respectively.

ment (Vasal et al., 1992), good ear placement and uniformity in flowering (Martinez et al., 1993), as well as
selecting for high heterosis and adaptation to diverse
agro-ecologies (Peresvelasques et al., 1995). Thus, a
diallel cross of ten open pollinated maize varieties
(OPVs) was used to estimate gca and sca effects for
grain yield potential in a typical SGS ecology of Nigeria
with the view to identifying promising candidates either
for cultivation as varietal hybrids or for extraction of
inbred lines for hybrid development.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The parent materials used in this study comprised of 10 open
pollinated varieties (OPVs) of maize, developed for grain yield and
adaptation to abiotic (drought) and biotic (Stalk rot, Striga and
Downy mildew) stress factors. They are early to medium maturing
white cultivars with maturity period of 90 to 100 days. The cultivars
were obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA), Ibadan. The 10 varieties were crossed in a partial diallel to
generate 45 F1 hybrids during 2004 and 2005 cropping seasons at
the teaching and research (T and R) farm of university of Ilorin
(Latitude 80 29N, Longitude 40 35E and annual rainfall of 945 mm).
The resultant hybrids were harvested, processed and stored in the
cold room prior to field evaluation. The genetic materials were evaluated using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 4
replicates in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Entries were made in 2row plots of 5 x 1.5 m each and planted at inter-row spacing of 75
cm and within row spacing of 50 cm to enhance a plant population
of about 53,333 stands per hectare. 3 seeds were initially planted
on a hill but were later thinned to 2 at 3 weeks after planting (WAP).
NPK 20-10-10 fertilizer was applied at the rate of 80 kg N ha-1 in 2
equal doses immediately after thinning and at 6 WAP respectively.
Data collected each year included maize establishment plant count
(EPC); plant height (cm) (PHT) measured from the soil level to the
flag leaf. Days to 50% pollen shed (PS) and silking (SK) were taken
as number of days from planting to the time 50% of the plant have
shed pollen and had silk extrusion. Maize grain yield (GY) (t/ha-1)
was also measured after adjusting to 12% moisture content.
Data collected were subjected to diallel analyses using Griffing
(1956) Method II (parents and crosses together), Model l (fixed
effects), first on individual year basis, before a combined analyses
across the 2 years. Both general and specific combining abilities
(gca and sca) were computed using SAS PROC. (1999) for the
parent OPVs and hybrids with respect to maize grain yield and
other agronomic characters respectively.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Combined ANOVA for maize grain yield and agronomic
traits across the two years (2005 and 2006) are presented in Table 1. Almost all the characters showed significant differences between years except plant height. This
suggests differential response of OPVs to factors of environment (climatic) in the 2 years. gca effects were significant also for all the parameters except plant height,
while sca effect was significant for grain yield only. Year x
gca effect was significant only for grain yield, but sca x
year effects were significant for almost all the characters
except plant height. This indicates high variability among
the parents and crosses in their responses to different
climatic changes in both years. This underscores earlier
view of Kang (1988) who noted that environment played
prominent role in phenotypic expression of agronomic
characters. The author suggested that ignoring environmental component in the fields would likely reduce progress and advances in selection. The corollary is that
climatic (rainfall, sunshine, relative humidity etc.) variation
could be an important factor in breeding for desirable
characters including grain yield in the SGS of Nigeria.
The ratio of estimated sca to gca effects indicated a preponderance of gca component in the expression of all the
traits. The results therefore suggest that additive type of
gene action is primarily involved in determining grain
yield and other agronomic parameters.
General combining ability x year effects for grain
yield and agronomic traits
Estimates of general combining ability x year interaction
effects in the parents for grain yield and agronomic traits
are presented in Table 2. Significant gca x year interacttive effects were recorded for maize establishment count,
which is an indication of how broad the genetic base of
the maize OPVs used are with respect to this trait.
Parents Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt, Tze Comp4 C2 and Tze
Comp4 Dmr Srbc2 exhibited significant gca x year effects
for establishment count and could be ideal general com-

2520

Afr. J. Biotechnol.

Table 2. Estimates of general combining ability (gca) x year interactive effects for maize yield and agronomic traits in 2005 and 2006 (Ilorin, Nigeria).

Parent

Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt

Tze Comp 4-Dmr Srbc2
Tze Comp4 C2
Acr 97 Tze Comp 3 C4

Maize establishment
count
2005
2006
246.32*
381.74*
352.01*
485.6**
494.93**
16.92
4.68
37.36

Days to 50%
pollen shed
2005
2006
0.29
19.86
6.03
16.06
9.44
36.87
0.02
4.65

Days to
50% silking
2005
2006
0.01
0.60
16.94
24.50*
3.80
0.15
8.68
47.34

Hei 97 Tze Comp 3 C4

455.2**

835.9**

2.38

1.73

24.96*

0.24

0.75

Acr 94 Tze Comp5

Anthesis-silking
interval
2005
2006
7.07
0.64
0.45
0.04
36.98*
31.22*
5.07
9.47

Plant height
(cm)
2005
2006
306.35
390.72
74.71
361.26
12.00
14.89
85.36
34.44

Grain yield
(t/ha)
2005
2006
2.45*
0.79
0.08
2.74*
0.45
2.45*
0.04
0.43

13.23

933.43*

92.65

0.01

0.43

92.32

102.97

2.85

7.12

5.43

2.39

4.38

1.63

67.59

167.33

0.01

1.32*

Tze Comp3 Dt

402.2**

106.22

0.19

0.35

0.04

2.96

7.20

5.43

55.23

45.00

0.13

0.07

Tze Comp3 C2

12.36

29.72

8.31

1.09

0.01

0.23

3.11

0.08

161.66

278.90

0.49

1.71*

Ak 95 Dmr-Esrw

95.84

218.86

8.00

3.82

0.44

0.06

5.05

2.75

120.96

25.85

0.01

0.14

Tze Msr-W

0.01

78.00

11.45

17.09

0.22

0.03

0.23

0.32

0.23

0.78

0.02

0.03

* ** Significant at < 0.05 and < 0.01 levels of probability, respectively.

biners for this character as they also showed

significant effect for grain yield. This indicated that
some populations presented superior behaviour in
their crosses when compared with others included
in the diallel. Tze Comp4 Dmr Srbc2, Tze Comp4
C2 and Acr 94 Tze Comp5 which are good
combiners for maize grain yield, also showed
significant gca x year effects for flowering traits.
These parents probably have genes that can be
introgressed into other promising lines for early
maturity and high grain yield. This report agrees
with that of Paul and Debenth (1999) who noted
significant gca effects for days to anthesis. The
authors further stressed that additive gene action
played a major role in the inheritance of days to
maturity in the test genotypes. Similarly, ElHosary et al. (1994) reported significant gca x
year effect for all the flowering traits in the 2 years
of their study.
Anthesis-silking interval is a trait used mostly in
screening genotypes for tolerance to stresses. It is

a measure of nicking (synchronization) of pollen

shed with silking. Parent Tze Comp4 C2 only
showed positive significant gca x year effects for
both anthesis-silking interval and grain yield. This
OPV could be regarded as the most desirable
parent for this trait. This report is in line with
earlier independent studies by Shanghai et al.
(1983) and Paul and Debenth (1999) who
independently reported that gca effects were
significant for anthesis-silking interval and that
additive gene action played a major role in the
inheritance of the character. Significant gca x year
interaction effects for maize grain yield recorded
for Acr 90 Pool 16 Dt, Tze Comp4 Dmr Srbc2 and
Tze Comp3 C2, Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Tze
Comp3 C2 suggests that they could be good
general combiners for high grain yield. Therefore
these hybrids probably have potential as parents
of hybrid varieties, as well as for inclusion in
breeding programmes, since they may contribute
superior alleles in new populations for high grain

yield.
Specific combining ability x year effects of
selected hybrids for grain yield and agronomic
traits
The estimates of SCA effects of top ranking 16
crosses are presented in Table 3. Significant sca
x year interaction effects, which reflect individual
cross differences in the 2 years were observed for
maize grain yield and other agronomic traits. Sca
x year interactive effects for both maize
establishment count and grain yield were significant in the hybrids with Tze Comp3 Dt combining
very well with Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt, Acr 94 Tze
Comp5 and Tze Comp3 C2. Hybrids Tze Comp4
C2 x Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2 and Tze Comp3 C2
x Ak 95 Dmr-Esrw also recorded significant sca x
year interaction effects for establishment count
and grain yield. This suggests that these hybrids

Bello and Olaoye

2521

Table 3. Specific combining ability (sca) x year interactive effects of selected crosses for maize grain yield and agronomic characters in 2005 and 2006 (Ilorin, Nigeria).

Hybrid
Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4
Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt x Tze Comp3 Dt
Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt x Ak 95 Dmr-Esrw
Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2 x Tze Comp4 C2
Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2 x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4
Tze Comp4 C2 x Acr 97 Tze Comp3 C4
Tze Comp4 C2 x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4
Tze Comp4 C2 x Tze Comp3 C2
Acr 97 Tze Comp3 C4 x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4
Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4 x Acr 94 Tze Comp5
Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4 x Tze Comp3 Dt
Acr 94 Tze Comp5 x Tze Comp3 Dt
Acr 94 Tze Comp5 x Tze Comp3 C2
Acr 94 Tze Comp5 x Ak 95 Dmr-Esrw
Tze Comp3 Dt x Tze Comp3 C2
Tze Comp3 C2 x Ak 95 Dmr-Esrw

Maize establishment
count
2005
2006
82.94
57.26
86.64
210.45*
0.15
2.85
84.79
687.07*
2.82
61.46
42.24
334.45*
4.15
199.07
39.33
0.28
58.90
97.02
4.30
48.58
0.36
3.54
316.63*
69.09
2.12
0.10
1.34
0.23
55.05
415.76*
97.48
349.23*

Days to 50%
tasselling
2005
2006
39.08*
16.73*
3.09
1.36
7.44*
5.53
9.71*
4.06
25.05*
6.90
1.42
7.39
10.94*
1.75
8.25
0.69
3.02
10.24*
0.14
1.11
2.97
12.79*
35.56*
9.82
21.15*
3.91
1.88
0.07
0.43
0.60
0.04
1.48

Days to 50%
silking
2005
2006
27.05*
43.57*
0.01
0.02
9.94*
4.47
0.04
2.22
20.81*
24.38*
2.09
3.60
4.82
16.77*
1.18
0.01
0.50
5.16
2.88
0.13
0.03
5.42
0.01
10.49
5.75
11.60
0.36
0.12
0.01
0.24
0.96
3.67

Anthesis-silking
interval (days)
2005
2006
0.76
7.12
2.18
0.23
0.27
0.01
11.44*
9.70
0.11
6.52
0.05
2.00
1.62
1.69
13.24*
0.27
1.26
1.56
0.33
2.65
2.39
3.00
1.35
0.35
3.73
22.64*
3.70
0.15
0.26
1.13
1.07
0.24

Plant height
(cm)
2005
2006
8.10
18.08
148.86
13.37
11.16
265.02
2.65
172.92
232.53
40.74
263.99
177.64
163.05
2.48
206.13
21.79
6.67
244.64
440.80
63.04
4.75
2.25
213.24
293.52
143.65
25.95
1.54
0.21
51.66
12.68
66.24
08.54

Grain yield
(t/ha)
2005
2006
0.03
1.41*
2.35*
3.14*
1.87*
2.15*
0.22
2.58*
0.05
1.12*
1.17*
0.35
1.19*
0.02
0.03
2.13*
1.15*
1.39*
1.72*
0.07
2.31*
2.50*
0.59
1.51*
0.71
6.79*
0.46
1.42*
0.69
1.78*
0.33
1.12*

*, ** Significant at < 0.05 and < 0.01 levels of probability respectively.

are better specific combiners for maize establishment count and high yielding and they could form
an initial gene pool for good germination and seed
viability for enhanced high stand count. Significant
sca x year inter-action effects for days to 50%
tasselling was recorded in the crosses with Hei 97
Tze Comp3 C4 combining very well with 5 parents
(Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt, Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2, Tze
Comp4 C2, Tze Comp3 Dt and Acr 97 Tze
Comp3 C4). Similarly, sca x year interaction
effects were significant among the hybrids for
days to silking, with Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4 combining very well with 3 parents (Acr 90 Pool 16-Dt,
Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2 and Tze Comp4 C2). It is
noteworthy that Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4 appeared
to have genes that can be introgressed to exploit

heterosis for earliness and high grain yield. These

results are in line with earlier inde-pendent studies
of Kumar et al. (1998), Joshi et al. (1998) and
Perez-Velasquez et al. (1996) who reported that
maize grain yield and flowering traits were under
the control of non-additive (sca effect) type of
gene action.
Significant sca x year interaction effects for
anthesis-silking interval and grain yield were
recorded in the crosses with Tze Comp4 C2 which
combined very well with Tze Comp4-Dmr Srbc2
and Tze Comp3 C2. On the other hand, nonsignificant sca x year effect was recorded for plant
height. This indicated uniformity in plant height
among the hybrids in the different years of evaluation. Therefore , the parents and hybrids which

featured prominently with respect to better general

and specific combining abilities for maize grain
yield and other agronomic traits, could form an
initial gene pool for further breeding programme in
developing high yielding varieties for cultivation in
the Nigerian savannas.
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