Evaluation of Experimental Varieties From Recurrent Selection for Striga Resistance in Two Extra-Early Maize Populations in the Savannas of West and Central Africa

A breeding programme for resistance to Striga hermonthica in maize ( Zea mays ) was initiated in Côte d'Ivoire in 1994. Two extra-early populations, white (TZEE-W Pop STR) and yellow (TZEE-Y Pop STR), were formed from diallel crosses of the best adapted extra-early maturing maize germplasm in the West and Central African subregion. In an effort to improve the populations for Striga resistance, TZEE-W Pop was crossed to inbred 1368 STR (Tzi 3 STR), and TZEE-Y Pop to 9450 STR (Tzi 25 STR). The resulting F 1 populations were carried through two backcross (BC) generations. S 1 lines were developed from the BC 2 and subjected to two cycles of random mating to generate TZEE-W Pop STR C 0 and TZEE-Y Pop STR C 0 . These two populations were subjected to three cycles of S 1 recurrent selection under artificial Striga infestation and several experimental varieties were extracted from the different cycles of the selection programme. The original populations (C 0 ), improved populations, and experimental varieties were evaluated in two experiments under Striga -infested and Striga -free conditions. The primary objective was to determine the effectiveness of S 1 recurrent selection in developing Striga -resistant extra-early maize varieties. Results of the performance tests showed that the populations were good sources of Striga -resistant varieties with high-yield potential under both Striga- infested and Striga -free conditions. The results have also confirmed the effectiveness of inbreeding, selection and hybridization, as well as the backcross breeding methods, as tools for the development of extra-early populations, synthetic varieties and inbred lines.