Maize is the principal crop for food security and livestock feed in South Africa. It is also an industrial crop and the produce is exported to many countries in the world. Therefore there is high seed demand which prompts competition for breeding productive hybrids. However direct introduction of tropical hybrids into the warm temperate South African environments has not been successful. Competitive advantages can be obtained by implementing a “shuttle breeding” programme whereby part of the breeding is done in Zimbabwe and South Africa to minimise research and production costs. Introgression of temperate germplasm in tropical elite inbred lines can also be pursued to obtain adapted hybrids. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the effectiveness of introgression of temperate germplasm into tropical elite maize inbred lines as a strategy to enhance adaptability of new hybrids to South Africa, and also to determine both breeding and economic value of a “shuttle breeding” programme. To this end, the introgressed inbred lines and their hybrid progenies were evaluated in South Africa to determine the effect of the selection environment on their performance and genetic variation. Both genetic and economic gains were evaluated with a view to make recommendations to the small and medium scale enterprises with interests in the market. Introgression of temperate germplasm into tropical germplasm elite lines did not disrupt the heterotic groupings because most of the introgressed lines (86%) fitted into known existing heterotic groups. Only 14% of the introgressed lines did not show any inclination to towards the known heterotic clusters of their founder tropical parents. These lines were considered to be new recombinant inbred lines that showed little resemblance with their founder parents. Selection environment did not influence heterotic clustering of the introgressed lines, and genetic diversity was identified among introgressed lines developed in the same environment. Genetic variation was observed for the major economic traits and heritability of 21% to 91%. The introgression was effective for improving grain yield potential and ear prolificacy. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis on grain yield and ear prolificacy data showed significant positive correlation between selection environments such as Ukulinga in South Africa and Kadoma Research Centre in Zimbabwe. Therefore Kadoma Research Centre will be recommended for use in breeding new maize germplasm lines for South Africa. Correlation among traits showed that ear prolificacy and plant height had significant (P<0.05) direct effects on grain yield thus direct selection of these traits will be emphasised in breeding new hybrids. Introgression of temperate germplasm into tropical elite maize inbred lines was effective for improving their adaptation to warm temperate environments. Positive genetic gains of 5-58% were realised for grain yield potential and 26-46% for ear prolificacy. Whereas 1% to 37% gains were realised for secondary traits such as plant and ear height, anthesis and silking days there was barely any improvement for root and stalk lodging, and grain moisture content at harvest. However, introgressed lines displayed impressive performance per se and inter se indicating potential for commercial production. The new inbred line 71-DMLF7_88 combined early physiological maturity, high ear prolificacy and grain yield potential qualifying it as a perfect parent for the warm temperate environments. At least six hybrids were stable and adaptable while four were considered to be ideal genotypes relative to standard commercial hybrids such as PAN6Q445B which is a market leader. The exceptional hybrids, 12C20264, 12C22766, 13XH349 and 11C11774 will be advanced in South Africa. The study also indicated significant economic gains when a shuttle programme is implemented to breed new hybrids following the introgression strategy. The “Shuttle breeding” programme attained a positive net present value (NPV) of $1, 834, 166. 00. This indicated an increase in shareholder value through an opportunity cost of 17% and 3% relative to conventional breeding programmes which are based in South Africa and Zimbabwe, respectively. Positive NPV and genetic gain achieved using the “shuttle breeding” programme makes it a viable option for small and medium scale seed companies with intention to breed and commercialise competitive products in South African. In general, the study revealed that introgression of temperate germplasm into tropical elite inbred lines using a “shuttle breeding” programme was effective for enhancing adaptability of tropical germplasm to the South African warm temperate environments. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important food crops in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); however its production is constrained by many factors. Grain yield is compromised by poor genetic performance and poor agronomic management. This calls for need to develop hybrids and exploiting heterosis of single crosses which are adapted to challenging environments. Currently, there is no popcorn hybrids developed in South Africa which is adapted to local conditions. As such, there is need to develop hybrids that cater for smallscale farmers in marginal environments. The objectives of the study were to determine i) standard heterosis, levels of variation and heritability for phenotypic traits in dent and flint maize hybrids; ii) the association between genetic distances and phenotypic traits in dent and flint maize hybrids; iii) mid-parent heterosis in popcorn hybrids, iv) the effect of secondary traits on grain yield in dent, flint and popcorn hybrids; v) genetic diversity and the relationship between traits in widely grown selected hybrids in Southern Africa; and vii) to compare effectiveness of phenotypic analysis models for determining genetic distances between hybrids. Popcorn, dent and flint hybrids were evaluated at two sites. The data was analysed using SAS, Genstat and Power marker statistical packages. The results revealed that the relationship between genetic distance and heterosis is dependent on the environment. Hybrids in top 10 at both sites were different indicating that there was a significant genotype x environment interaction. 13 new heterotic patterns that performed better than the controls can be utilized in heterosis breeding; however there is need to test them in different environments to check on their stability. Grain texture cannot be used to discriminate hybrids for yield because all patterns of dent x dent, dent x flint and flint x flint were present in the top 10 hybrids. Lines DXL124 and DXL158 dominated parentage of the top 10 hybrid rank for yield qualifying them as potential testers for specific combining ability in future studies. Heterosis in popcorn hybrids that performed better than the mid-parent can be utilized in heterosis breeding to exploit vigour, though there is need to test the hybrids in a number of different environments. The main direct factors contributing to yield were ear prolificacy, ear aspect, number of plants and shelling percentages qualifying them to be selected to boost grain yield. Phenotypic data and 91 SNP markers were used to estimate the genetic distance between the hybrids. The results indicated that hybrids that were in the same cluster belong to the same brand and were related in origin and pedigree. Both molecular and phenotypic data were effective in discriminating the hybrids into different clusters according to genetic background. SNP markers revealed nine clusters of hybrids, 12-trait model revealed eight clusters and five-trait model revealed six clusters at 85% genetic distance. The study indicates strategies that can be adopted to boost grain yield in dent, flint and popcorn hybrids. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Maize production in Africa is constrained by abiotic and biotic stresses. Breeders need to have information on the nature of combining ability of parents, their traits and performance in hybrid combination. This requires careful determination of genetic variability of parents, and studying associations between grain yield and adaptive traits to breed superior cultivars which are better able to withstand such stresses. Therefore, this study was aimed at selecting parental testers with best combining ability in hybrid combination with recombinant inbred lines (RILs); and studying the correlation between grain yield and its components in eastern and western South Africa. It was also aimed at determining genetic variation and associations among adaptive traits in hybrids involving RILs. The final objectives of the study were to determine cultivar superiority of testcrosses involving RILs, and to select the best cultivars within and across four different environments. The 42 RILs were crossed to 9 Zimbabwean tropical testers resulting in 1009 hybrids with sufficient seed for planting in trials. From these a sample of 87 hybrids with adequate seed were selected and planted at four sites for combining ability analysis. The hybrids were evaluated at four sites in two regions; western region (Potchefstroom research station) and eastern region (Cedara, Ukulinga and Dundee research stations), during 2011/12 season. The experiments were laid out as augmented alpha lattice design. Trials were managed in accordance with production culture for each region. All quantitative data was subjected to GenStat and SAS statistical softwares. The results from combining ability study indicated that the line general combining ability (GCA) effects played a non-significant role (p > 0.05) in determining grain yield, grain moisture and anthesis date, while they were significant (p ≤ 0.05) for the other traits such as ear prolificacy. The tester main effects were significant for all the traits except ear prolificacy and plant height. Results also revealed that all the traits were controlled by both additive and non-additive genes, where additive gene action had the most contribution to the traits. The non-additive gene action played a minor role suggesting the total GCA effects attributed to both lines and testers predominantly higher over the specific combining ability (SCA) for all traits. In general the additive effects were preponderant over the non-additive gene effects. One cross (L114 x T12) had a significant and positive SCA effect for grain yield. The correlation between grain yield and secondary traits (number of ears per plant, grain moisture content, ear height, plant height, ear position and anthesis date) suggested that indirect selection can be employed to enhance grain yield by breeding for these particular adaptive traits. Path analysis showed that plant height had the highest direct and indirect effect on grain yield indicating its importance among other secondary traits for grain yield enhancement. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the studied traits across all the four environments. All the traits displayed high heritability at Potchefstroom except anthesis date which was highly heritable at Ukulinga. Cedara was the second best site for heritability of all the traits except for the number of ears per plant. The genetic advance for grain yield was the highest at Cedara followed by Potchefstroom, Dundee and Ukulinga. The hybrids exhibited different patterns of variation and distribution for all the traits. This indicated that selection strategies to exploit GCA should be emphasised. Association studies among grain yield and secondary traits such as ear length, number of ears per plant, plant height, anthesis date, silking date and ear leaf area revealed that there were significant phenotypic correlations between grain yield and secondary traits, and among the secondary traits. Ear length had the highest direct effect on grain yield at Ukulinga; number of ears per plant had the highest direct effect on grain yield at Cedara and Potchefstroom; whereas plant height had the highest direct effect on grain yield at Dundee. Grain yield was least affected by indirect factors at all the sites except Ukulinga, where anthesis date had the highest indirect effect on grain yield through silking date followed by plant height through leaf area. The study reveals that there is significant variation among the hybrids for mean performance, indicating that there is opportunity for selection. Overall the findings suggest that direct selection would be appropriate to enhance grain yield. Path analysis revealed that plant height had the highest direct and indirect effects on grain yield, indicating that plant height can be further exploited as the main trait in future breeding programmes for grain yield increment. Hybrid 10MAK10-1/N3 was the best hybrid at Ukulinga in terms of grain yield, relative yield and economic traits. Whereas hybrid T17/L83 was the best hybrid at Cedara in terms of grain yield and relative yield; however, T11/L102 was selected as the most elite hybrid with respect to grain yield, relative yield and economic traits. Hybrid T3/L48 was identified as thebest hybrid at Dundee with respect to grain yield, relative yield and prolificacy. At Potchefstroom the standard check PAN6611 was identified as the best hybrid in terms of grain yield and relative yield followed by developmental hybrid T1/L28; however, developmental hybrid T1/L28 was the best in terms of earliness, prolificacy and ear aspect. Stability coefficients and cultivar superiority index across the sites revealed that four developmental hybrids were identified as best hybrids and they performed better than the standard check. These hybrids will be recommended for further testing in advanced trials. With respect to cultivar superiority, the desired hybrids are required to combine high grain yield with economic and adaptive traits such as high ear prolificacy, low grain moisture, and low ear aspect score (desired) for them to adapt to production environments in South Africa. There was significant variation among the top 25 yielding hybrids. At least 5 hybrids combined high grain yield with the desired complimentary adaptive traits such as quick moisture dry down, prolificacy and ear aspect. The results showed that there is variation in the performance of high yielding genotypes within all the sites, and that agronomically superior cultivars can be identified. The study shows that there is significant variation among the RILs since they interacted differently with the 9 tropical testers. Even among the top 25 selections of RILs in each environment there was still variation for combinations of the desired traits. Significant associations among grain yield and other economic and adaptive traits were observed with implications for breeding strategy. Above all the significant variation gives large score for future breeding of new unique lines. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.