Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research

Assessing genetic gains from historical data provides insights to improve breeding programs. This study evaluated the Mozambique National Maize Program's (MNMP's) genetic gains using data from advanced germplasm trials conducted at 21 locations between 2014 and 2020. Genetic gains were calculated by...

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Autores principales: Fato, Pedro, Chauque, Pedro, Senete, Constantino Tomás, Nhamucho, Egas, Sneller, Clay, Mutiga, Samuel Kilonzo, Musundire, Lennin, Gissa, Dagne Wegary, Das, Biswanath, Boddupalli, Prasanna
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179112
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author Fato, Pedro
Chauque, Pedro
Senete, Constantino Tomás
Nhamucho, Egas
Sneller, Clay
Mutiga, Samuel Kilonzo
Musundire, Lennin
Gissa, Dagne Wegary
Das, Biswanath
Boddupalli, Prasanna
author_browse Boddupalli, Prasanna
Chauque, Pedro
Das, Biswanath
Fato, Pedro
Gissa, Dagne Wegary
Musundire, Lennin
Mutiga, Samuel Kilonzo
Nhamucho, Egas
Senete, Constantino Tomás
Sneller, Clay
author_facet Fato, Pedro
Chauque, Pedro
Senete, Constantino Tomás
Nhamucho, Egas
Sneller, Clay
Mutiga, Samuel Kilonzo
Musundire, Lennin
Gissa, Dagne Wegary
Das, Biswanath
Boddupalli, Prasanna
author_sort Fato, Pedro
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Assessing genetic gains from historical data provides insights to improve breeding programs. This study evaluated the Mozambique National Maize Program's (MNMP's) genetic gains using data from advanced germplasm trials conducted at 21 locations between 2014 and 2020. Genetic gains were calculated by regressing the genotypic best linear unbiased estimates of grain yield and complementary agronomic traits against the initial year of genotype evaluation (n = 592). The annual genetic gain was expressed as a percentage of the trait mean. While grain yield, the primary breeding focus, showed no significant improvement, significant gains were observed for the plant height (0.67%), ear height (1.74%), ears per plant (1.31%), ear position coefficient (1.22%), and husk cover (4.7%). Negative genetic gains were detected for the days to anthesis (-0.5%), the anthesis-silking interval or ASI (-9.31%), and stalk lodging (-5.01%). These results indicate that while MNMP did not achieve the desired positive genetic gain for grain yield, progress was made for traits related to plant resilience, particularly the ASI and stalk lodging. MNMP should seek to incorporate new breeding technologies and human resources to enhance genetic gains for grain yield and other key traits in the maize breeding program, while developing and deploying high-yielding, climate-resilient maize varieties to address emerging food security challenges in Mozambique.
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spelling CGSpace1791122025-12-20T02:10:31Z Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research Fato, Pedro Chauque, Pedro Senete, Constantino Tomás Nhamucho, Egas Sneller, Clay Mutiga, Samuel Kilonzo Musundire, Lennin Gissa, Dagne Wegary Das, Biswanath Boddupalli, Prasanna maize genetic gain grain yields Assessing genetic gains from historical data provides insights to improve breeding programs. This study evaluated the Mozambique National Maize Program's (MNMP's) genetic gains using data from advanced germplasm trials conducted at 21 locations between 2014 and 2020. Genetic gains were calculated by regressing the genotypic best linear unbiased estimates of grain yield and complementary agronomic traits against the initial year of genotype evaluation (n = 592). The annual genetic gain was expressed as a percentage of the trait mean. While grain yield, the primary breeding focus, showed no significant improvement, significant gains were observed for the plant height (0.67%), ear height (1.74%), ears per plant (1.31%), ear position coefficient (1.22%), and husk cover (4.7%). Negative genetic gains were detected for the days to anthesis (-0.5%), the anthesis-silking interval or ASI (-9.31%), and stalk lodging (-5.01%). These results indicate that while MNMP did not achieve the desired positive genetic gain for grain yield, progress was made for traits related to plant resilience, particularly the ASI and stalk lodging. MNMP should seek to incorporate new breeding technologies and human resources to enhance genetic gains for grain yield and other key traits in the maize breeding program, while developing and deploying high-yielding, climate-resilient maize varieties to address emerging food security challenges in Mozambique. 2025-02 2025-12-19T22:51:21Z 2025-12-19T22:51:21Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179112 en Open Access application/pdf MDPI Fato, P., Chaúque, P., Senete, C., Nhamucho, E., Sneller, C., Mutiga, S., Musundire, L., Wegary, D., Das, B., & Prasanna, B. M. (2025). Genetic Trends in Seven Years of Maize Breeding at Mozambique’s Institute of Agricultural Research. Agronomy, 15(2), 449. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15020449
spellingShingle maize
genetic gain
grain
yields
Fato, Pedro
Chauque, Pedro
Senete, Constantino Tomás
Nhamucho, Egas
Sneller, Clay
Mutiga, Samuel Kilonzo
Musundire, Lennin
Gissa, Dagne Wegary
Das, Biswanath
Boddupalli, Prasanna
Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research
title Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research
title_full Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research
title_fullStr Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research
title_full_unstemmed Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research
title_short Genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at Mozambique's Institute of Agricultural Research
title_sort genetic trends in seven years of maize breeding at mozambique s institute of agricultural research
topic maize
genetic gain
grain
yields
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179112
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