Inheritance pattern of some morphological characters in maize (Zea mays L.)

A 6x6 diallel cross experiment was conducted on f1 generation of maize to explore the inheritance pattern of various morphological parameters at agricultural research institute,dera ismail khan,pakistan,during 2004 and 2005. the analysis of variance indicated highly significant differences,among parental lines and their hybrids in f1generation viz.,days to maturity,plant height,ear height,leaves/plant,harvest index % and grain yield kg/ha. the wr/vr graph for all the characters under study,enunciated additive type of gene action with partial dominance involved in the phenotypic manifestation of the traits as regression line cuts the wr axis above the origin. additive type of gene action suggests that selection in early generation may be fruitful for these characters. for all characters studied the regression coefficient (b) differed significantly,from zero but not from unity,indicated the absence of non-allelic interaction,which was presented in all the characters.