Variability and interdependence of characteristics of maize hybrids of different vegetation lengths

Maize is one of the most important field crops with broad genetic and phenotypic variations. It occupies an important place in agricultural production in the world as in Serbia. The main aim of maize breeding is to obtain new inbred lines, i.e. to identify new hybrid combinations that will surpass existing hybrids in terms of grain yield and other important traits. The aim of this study was to examine the phenotypic variability of 10 NS maize hybrids of different genetic bases and maturity groups in agroecological conditions in Rimski Šančevi, to consider the interdependence of grain yield and other tested traits using PCA and correlation analysis. The obtained results indicate a significant variation of all examined properties except for the ear length. The significance of the difference indicated by the F test was confirmed by the Duncan test. Correlation coefficients indicate a significant positive interdependence between the mass of 1000 grains and the ear length (r = 0.698). PCA analysis provided a more complex analysis of the interdependencies of the examined traits and grain yield. The highest yields were achieved by hybrids that simultaneously showed high values of several yield components. Yields ranged from 11,210 kg ha-1 in the G-10 hybrid (FAO 600), to 14,790 kg ha-1 in the G-3 hybrid (FAO 400). In this study, hybrids of earlier maturity achieved higher grain yields, mainly due to drought tolerance. Therefore, the goal is to create drought-tolerant maize hybrids that will successfully endure the negative consequences of global warming.