EVALUATION OF MAIZE HYBRIDS FOR GRAIN YIELD STABILITY IN NORTH-WEST OF PAKISTAN

Stable performance of maize hybrids in multi-environment trials is critical to sustain food production. The objectives of this investigation were to evaluate grain yield stability of seven maize single cross hybrids across three locations (Peshawar, Nowshera and Mansehra) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan via GGE biplot and to identify desirable locations for maize testing during 2007. Hybrids main effect and hybrid × location interaction was significant. The statistical analysis ranked hybrids on the basis of average grain yield across locations as ICI-974 (8439 kg ha -1 ) and Pioneer-3025 (8310 kg ha -1 ) outclassed all other hybrids. The GGE biplot analysis ranked hybrids on above average grain yield across locations as ICI-974 was best followed by Pioneer-3025 and Hi-Corn, while rest of the hybrids produced grain yield below average. For stability of performance across locations GGE biplot identified ICI-974, Pioneer-3025 as the most stable hybrids across locations, while the rest of the hybrids were inferior. Among the three locations, Nowshera and Mansehra were identified as highly representative, whereas, Peshawar was the least representative one. It is concluded that ICI-974 and Pioneer-3025 are stable hybrids at Nowshera, Mansehra and surrounding areas.