TY  - JA
AU  - Elings,A.
AU  - Edmeades,G.O.
AU  - White,J.W.
TI  - Options for breeding for greater maize yields in the tropics
PY  - 1997///
KW  - Genotype environment interaction
KW  - AGROVOC
KW  - Maize
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Simulation models
KW  - Tropical zones
KW  - Zea mays
KW  - Yields
KW  - Plant breeding
KW  - Tropical maize CIMMYT
N1  - Peer-review: Yes - Open Access: Yes|Yes|http://science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=1161-0301
N2  - Options for breeding for greater maize yields in the tropics were quantitatively examined with a crop growth simulation model that was tested against field data of five genotypes in four environments. Simulations indicate that at high production levels, grain filling of maize is sink-limited, and that increasing the number of kernels per m(2) through larger primary ears, prolificacy or greater plant densities, will lead to increased grain yields. On a theoretical basis, it is concluded that larger primary ears lead to greater grain yields at all plant growth rates, and that increased prolificacy leads to greater grain yields only if plant growth rate exceeds a threshold. Under nitrogen limited growing conditions, selecting for genotypes that extract more nitrogen from soils, and for delayed leaf senescence, show promise for increasing yields. For crop growth limited by moisture availability around flowering, continued selection for improved kernel set leads to greater grain yields
T2  - European Journal of Agronomy
ER  -