Plant Yield Efficiency by Homeostasis as Selection Tool at Ultra-Low Density. A Comparative Study with Common Stability Measures in Maize

Abstract

The study pertains to field experimentation testing seven maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids at four densities, across five locations under normal (NIR) and low-input (LIR) regimes. The main objective was to assess the prognostic value of plant yield efficiency by homeostasis (PYEH) for breeding purposes at ultra-low plant density to predict hybrid yield potential and stability. PYEH comprises plant yield efficiency (PYE) that reflects the ability of individual plants to exploit resources, and plant yield homeostasis (PYH) that indicates the crop’s ability to evade acquired plant-to-plant variability. The same hybrids were also evaluated for stability by commonly used parametric and non-parametric statistics based on data at low (LCD) and high crop densities (HCD). Hybrid stability focused on potential yield loss due to erratic optimum density (OD). Most methods produced conflicting results regarding hybrid ranking for yield and stability especially at LCD. In contrast, PYEH consistently highlighted high-yielding and stable hybrids, potentially able to reach the attainable crop yield (ACY) inter-seasonally irrespective of crop spacing. Low density is common practice under resource-deficit conditions, so crop adaptation to crop spacing is a viable option to overcome erratic OD that constitutes a root source of crop instability in rainfed maize. The results were further supportive of breeding at ultra-low density to facilitate the identification and selection of superior genotypes, since such conditions promote phenotypic expression and differentiation, and ensure repeatability across diverse environments.