Productivity and stability of some commercial and experimental maize hybrids obtained
by National Agricultural Research and Development Institute Fundulea, Romania

Daniela Horhocea¹, Horia Iordan¹, Cătălin Lazăr¹, Alina Laura Agapie², Gergely-Andrei Smit³,
Mihai Tilhoi⁴, Alin Ionel Ghiorghe⁵, Emanuela Lungu⁵, Claudia Ioana Dunăreanu⁶

¹ NARDI Fundulea
² ARDS Lovrin
³ ARDS Livada
⁴ ARDS Valu lui Traian
⁵ ARDS Brăila
⁶ ARDS Șimnic

Keywords: hybrid, maize, the yield, stability, adaptability

Abstract: An important way to the increase the yield and its stability is the adaptation of hybrids to the variations in environmental conditions by the good practices in natural resource management and the reduction of damage caused by abiotic and biotic stress factors.
The main objectives of breeding programs are increasing the yield potential and yield stability.
The yield is a complex attribute, thus for its fulfillment the entire genetic system of the plant acts in relationship with the environmental conditions, during the entire growth period.
Yield stability is achieved by genetic dynamic equilibrium and tolerance to biotic factors (different diseases and characteristics pests) and abiotic factors (heat, drought, low temperatures).
This study aimed to evaluate a set of maize hybrids under different ecological and technological conditions during the 2021–2023 period, focusing on yield level and stability, to select maize hybrids with superior adaptability. The biological material consisted of 15 maize hybrids, which were developed at NARDI Fundulea.
The hybrids were tested across six locations with different pedoclimatic conditions: at NARDI Fundulea, ARDS Brăila, ARDS Simnic, ARDS Valu lui Traian , ARDS Lovrin and ARDS Livada.
The stability of maize hybrids was determined used four methods. One of them is based on the drought tolerance index-DRIND after Mandache, (2013) and index of drought suscebtibility after Ficher and Maurer (1986) the second on the regression parameters proposed by Brukner şi Frohberg, (1987), the third on the coefficients of variation , and the fourth on the parameter Ecovalence, obtained by the method of Wricke (1965).
The maize hybrids:Felix, FDL Ovidiu, HSF1033-17, HSF1034-17, Miraj, Magnus and F423 showed good production stability.