Seleksi dan Kemajuan Seleksi Populasi Jagung (Zea mays L.) F5 Hasil Persilangan Bebas Tiga Tetua

Abstract

This research, entitled Selection and Selection Progress of F5 Maize (Zea mays L.) Population Resulting from Open Pollination of Three Parents, aimed to determine the phenotypic variability, quantitative and qualitative traits, as well as the selection progress in the F5 maize population derived from the open pollination of three parents, namely Japanese sweet corn, waxy corn, and purple corn.The study was conducted on agricultural land in Medan Selayang District from February 2025 until completion, using 150 maize seeds of the F5 generation. The observed parameters included ear length, ear diameter, number of kernel rows per ear, number of kernels per ear, and qualitative traits such as tassel and silk color. Data were analyzed by visually observed and calculating the mean, phenotypic variance (σ²p), standard deviation of variance (Sdσ²p). and calculate the selection progress value.The results showed that all observed quantitative traits fell into the broad variance category, indicating sufficient genetic variability and potential for selection. The mean ear length was 11.32 cm, ear diameter 3,48 cm, kernel rows per ear 10, and the number of kernels per ear 220. The analysis of selection progress revealed negative values for ear length (–3.85) and number of rows (–1.5), whereas the number of kernels showed a positive progress of 36.5. This shows that the number of seeds can be used as a selected character for the next population. Tassel color was dominated by yellow (79.49%) and purple (20.51%), while silk color was dominated by yellow (85%) and red (15%). These variations indicate the presence of genetic segregation in the F5 population, which can be utilized as the basis for further selection.In conclusion, the open-pollinated maize population derived from three parental lines demonstrated sufficient genetic potential for further development.