International Journal of Plant Breeding and Genetics

Year: 2007 | Volume: 1 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 75-81
DOI: 10.3923/ijpbg.2007.75.81

Crop Yield Potential Estimation under Too Low Density in Dry Bean Genotypes

Ioannis I. Papadopoulos, Ioannis S. Tokatlidis, Efstathios G. Tamoutsidis, Metaxia Koutsika Sotiriou and S. Koutroubas

Abstract: The study was conducted to investigate the crop yield potential of 19 lines derived from two local dry bean populations (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Lines evaluation by the honeycomb methodology method under the low density of 1.2 plants m^-2 in both greenhouse and open field conditions permitted to partition crop yield potential in three genetic components: I) progeny mean yield per plant (), reflecting the yield potential per plant, ii) progeny standardized mean ( s^-1), which evaluates genes contributing to stability of performance and iii) progeny standardized selection differential {(_s-) s^-1}, which evaluates genes that control responsiveness to inputs. Performance of the lines at the typical dense stand of 2.4 plants m^-2 in three greenhouse and open air trials was also tested. The two approaches of entries crop yield potential differentiated entries in a similar way. Entries crop yield potential estimated by the honeycomb methodology were found to be consistent with their performance in dense stand. Exception existed for two out of the 19 lines, attributable partly to genotype by year interaction. Results were suggestive that crop yield potential estimated under very low density approximating total absence of competition may effectively predict performance under the typical crop production conditions, permitting application of honeycomb methodology in the absence of competition across the entire generations of a breeding program and exploitation of the following advantages: maximum phenotypic expression and differentiation that facilitates identification of the superior genotypes, erasure of the adverse impact of negative relationship between yielding and competitive ability on selection effectiveness, avoidance of biased judgment of crop yield potential in dense stand due to significant genotype by density interactions.