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Maize Genomics and Genetics 2014, Vol.5, No.1, 1-6
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1
Research Report Open Access
Genetic Analysis of Maize (
Zea mays
L.) Genotypes for Baby Corn, Green Ear and
Grain Yield
Tajwar Izhar
1
, M. Chakraborty
2
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi -06 (Jharkhand),India
Corresponding author email:
tajwar_bau@rediffmail.com
Maize Genomics and Genetics, 2014, Vol.5, No.1 doi: 10.5376/mgg.2014.05.0001
Received: 10 Dec., 2014
Accepted: 23 Dec., 2014
Published: 31 Dec., 2014
Copyright
©
2014 Izhar and Chakraborty, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Izhar and Chakraborty, 2014, Genetic Analysis of Maize (
Zea mays
L.) Genotypes for Baby Corn, Green Ear and Grain Yield, Maize Genomics and Genetics,
Vol.5, No.1 1
-
6 (doi:
10.5376/mgg.2014.05.0001
)
Abstract
Most maize cultivars have been developed for grain production. Considering the diversified uses of maize, interest has
been demonstrated for the evaluation of maize hybrids with regard to their baby corn, green ear and grain yield production ability. In
the present work seventeen corn cultivars were evaluated in the yield of baby corn, green ears and dry grains. Two experiments were
carried out in the same season, in neighboring areas and managed in a similar way in Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi,
Jharkhand, India in a randomized blocks design with three replicates. Baby corn yield was evaluated in one of the experiments. The
other experiment was set to evaluate green ear and dry grain yield. The inbreds BQPM-4 and BAU1M-4 were found to be the most
productive with respect to the weight of marketable husked and unhusked baby corn ears. The inbreds BAU1M-4 and BQPM-2 were
the most productive with respect to number and weight of marketable husked green ears and grain yield. Therefore, the cultivars
differ with each other when different corn exploiting purposes are taken into account.
Keywords
Baby corn; Green ear; Yield;
Zea mays
L.
Introduction
Maize is the third most important cereal crop in India
after rice and wheat. Due to the change in food pattern
and shift in cropping system, maize is gaining its
importance as baby corn, green ear, dry grain, popcorn,
etc for human consumption. Hence, diversified uses of
maize have led to its ever increasing demand.
Cultivation of maize for green ear and grain
production are the common practices in India.
Immature ears harvested in 25 to 28 days after
pollination with moisture content of 70 to 80% is
called green ear corn.
The unfertilized tender ear harvested two or three days
after silk emergence is called baby corn. Baby corn
(
Zea mays
L.) is a diversified product composed of
baby or young ears harvested before fertilization and
consumed as a fresh or canned vegetable (Kumar and
Kallo, 2000). It is rich in vitamins B and C, potassium,
fibres and carotenoids. After harvesting of baby corn
or green ear, the above ground parts (stubbles) can be
used as animal fodder. Baby corn is a profitable crop
that allows diversification of production, aggregation
of value and increased income (Pandey et al., 2002).
Most maize cultivars have been developed for grain
production. Sweet corn cultivar may be used for green
ear as well as grain production and any corn cultivar
with higher prolificacy and better tolerance to high
plant density can be used for baby corn cultivation. As
a product, baby corn was only important in Thailand
and a few other countries (Pereira Filho et al., 1998).
Because of globalization, other countries have become
interested in this crop. In addition to supplying the
growing domestic demand, this product could be
included in the export list of agricultural companies,
taking advantage of the existing export chain used for
fruits, ornamental plants, and other products.
Considering the diversified uses of maize, interest has
been demonstrated for the evaluation of maize hybrids
with regard to their baby corn, green ear and grain
yield production ability.
1 Materials and Methods
Seventeen inbred lines were evaluated for baby corn,
green ear and grain yield in two different experiments.
They were evaluated for baby corn in one of the
experiment and for green ear traits and grain yield in
another experiment in the neighbouring plots in the