Abstract: A breeding programme was initiated at University Putra Malaysia (UPM), aimed at combining good qualities from both genetic materials. Mains Madu, Hybrid SSC 240 and Hybrid 368 were first evaluated and compared for general performance. Fresh car yields of the three varieties were comparable (12304, 9733 and 9641 kg ha-1 for Manis Madu, Hybrid 240 and Hybrid 368, respectively), but plants of Manis Madu were significantly taller (169.5 cm) and tasseling (53.7 days) than the hybrid varieties. Broad-sense heritability estimates for traits measured on the varieties were moderate to high. Based on performance, Mains Madu and Hybrid Ssc 240 were selected as source populations for the succeeding study and were subsequently crossed. The resulting population was advanced by one generation of intermating and its performance was compared with those of the parental populations. The inermated population was highest for car height (67%) as opposed to those for other traits (between-11.1 to 39.7%). All the traits studied in the population cross were positively correlated with each other, with the highest being between plant height and number of leaves at 21 days after planting. The distribution of the individual plants in the population showed the tendency of values skewed towards the hybrid parent, SSC 240, for all traits except ear height, which showed a mid-way distribution between the two parents. It was suggested that more generations of intermating should be carried out on the population to allow free gene flow within the crossed population, before selection for superior individuals could be employed, for population improvement.