Public Popcorn Breeding Studies of Turkey

Abstract

Popcorn (Zea mays everta) is one of the oldest forms of field maize and it was developed for higher popping volume from flint maize. Popcorn is a very popular appetizer in Turkey and its cultivation and consumption is increasing. It is widely cultivated in Aegean, Mediterranean, Southeast Anatolia and Marmara region of Turkey. Popcorn seed was supplied mainly by the public sector’s varieties in the past. Currently both public and private sector’s hybrids are produced by the growers. The primary concern in popcorn production is lack of enough high yielding and quality local popcorn varieties. According to the Variety Registration and Seed Certification Center of Turkey sources, there are only a few local popcorn hybrids in the production. Therefore, popcorn growers are often having difficulty finding sufficient seeds. A national big scale popcorn breeding project was initiated by Public, Private Sector and University partnership in order to develop and release high yielding popcorn hybrids in 2015. With the Project, it was targeted to develop local popcorn hybrids and inbreeds to meet high yield and quality variety need and increase national production. In order to develop new inbreds, genotypes derived from populations and pedigree breeding procedures was applied. During the studies, both field and greenhouses were used for generations. General combining ability tests have been done by topcrossing method and the trails were carried out in different 4 locations representing different regions of Turkey. On the other hand, to develop local new varieties in a near future, promising inbreds of public and private sector were crossed to each other in the light of genetic distances and breeding performances. Experimental hybrids will be evaluated in 4 locations in the 2nd and 3rd years of the Project. In the present paper, information on popcorn genetic resources such as developed populations, collections and inbred lines in Turkey are given, current and future studies of the breeding projects that carried out by the public sector are evaluated.

Keywords

• genetic resources,population,inbred,hybrid,yield,,quality

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