Vol. 9, Special Issue 8, Part P (2025)

A line × tester analysis was carried-out by using seven lines and four testers and their resulted 28 hybrids of maize along with the standard check (GAYMH 3) in order to estimate heterosis, combining ability and nature of gene action involved in the inheritance of kernel yield and its contributing traits. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications during kharif 2024 at Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. The analysis of variance for experimental design revealed highly significant differences among genotypes, parents and hybrids for all the characters indicating the presence of sufficient genetic variability for the 13 characters studied. The heterobeltiosis for kernel yield per plant ranged from-34.85 to 44.24%, while the standard heterosis ranged from-35.22 to 21.09%. The hybrids GYL 6 × GYL 2 (44.24%), PFSR 53-5 × HKI 163 (25.73%) and GYL 7 × GYL 2 (23.08%) were found to be most promising on the basis of heterobeltiosis for kernel yield and its contributing traits like GYL 6 × GYL 2 for cob weight, Number of kernel rows per Cob and shelling percentage; GYL 7 × GYL 2 for cob length, number of kernels per row, shelling percentage and 100 kernel weight as they ranked between one to three with respect to heterobeltiosis for respective characters. Hence these hybrids could be used to exploit the heterosis in future breeding programme by utilizing biparental mating or recurrent selection breeding approaches to obtain desirable sergeants for development of superior genotypes for kernel yield and its contributing traits in maize. Standard heterosis ranged from-35.22 to 21.09%. Hybrid PFSR 53-5 × HKI 163 exhibited high standard heterosis. Therefore, this cross could be exploited for heterosis breeding programme to boost kernel yield in maize.