@article{icrisat7421,
           title = {Exploiting Grain-Filling Rate and Effective Grain-Filling Duration to Improve Grain Yield of Early-Maturing Maize},
       publisher = {Crop Science Society of America},
          author = {E Gasura and P Setimela and R Edema and P T Gibson and P Okori and A Tarekegne},
           pages = {2295--2303},
            year = {2013},
          volume = {53},
            note = {NOTE: Currently Okori, Patrick is scientist at ICRISAT(Malawi)},
         journal = {Crop Science},
             url = {http://oar.icrisat.org/7421/},
        abstract = {Early-maturing maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes yield 15 to 30\% less than late-maturing genotypes. One strategy for improving grain yield in the early-maturing group involves assessment of grain-filling traits as secondary traits for selection for high grain yield. In this study, we investigated the possibility of using grain-filling rate and duration for improving grain yield in early-maturing tropical maize. Forty-four hybrids generated using North Carolina design II were evaluated at CIMMYT-Zimbabwe during the 2011/2012 season under irrigated and nonirrigated environments. Although grain-filling rate and effective grain-filling duration were negatively correlated, several hybrids were distinctly above the trend line. The earliest-maturing hybrid took 127 d to reach physiological maturity and produced grain yields comparable to those of the medium-maturing genotypes (7 t ha?1). It had a high grain-filling rate of 2.40 g per plant d?1 (18\% higher than those of the low-yielding hybrids) and a relatively longer effective grain-filling duration. Grain-filling rate and effective grain-filling duration had high coefficients of genetic determination, positive correlations with grain yield, low error terms, and low genotype {$\times$} environment interactions, making them appropriate selection traits for improved grain yield. The study shows that it is possible to develop high-yielding early- to medium-maturing maize hybrids based on favorable combining ability values for grain-filling rate and duration.}
}