PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate trait association and the direct and indirect effects of yield-contributing characters on seed yield in maize (Zea mays L.) crosses. A total of 55 maize crosses were evaluated during Kharif 2024-25 at the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture Science and Technology, AKS University, Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India. The experiment was laid out in a randomised complete block design with three replications. Observations were recorded for phenological, vegetative, ear, yield and quality-related traits. Analysis of variance showed highly significant treatment differences for all studied traits, indicating substantial variability among the evaluated crosses. At the genotypic level, seed yield per plant showed significant positive correlations with seed index (r = 0.7993), number of seeds per cob (r = 0.7789), days to maturity (r = 0.6770), number of cobs per plant (r = 0.4827), days to anthesis (r = 0.4371) and cob length (r = 0.3735). Significant negative associations were observed with days to 50% silking (r = −0.5773) and protein content (r = −0.4509). At the phenotypic level, seed yield per plant was positively associated with cob diameter, seed index, cob weight, number of cobs per plant, days to anthesis, number of seeds per cob and protein content. Path coefficient analysis indicated that shelling percentage, cob length, number of internodes per plant, carbohydrate content, days to 50% silking and days to maturity had important positive direct effects at the genotypic level, while cob diameter, tassel length, days to maturity, number of seeds per cob and number of internodes per plant were important at the phenotypic level. These results suggest that selection based on yield-associated traits, particularly seed index, number of seeds per cob, cob diameter, cob length, shelling percentage and maturity duration, may support seed yield improvement in maize.