Sugary (Se1Se1) sweet corn hybrids do not have a high quality for human consumption according to the preferences of today's consumers, although they have a good stand establishment in cool environments. On the contrary, sugary enhancer (se1se1) hybrids have a high table quality, but a poor stand establishment in areas with a cool growing season. Sugary × sugary enhancer (Se1se1) sweet corn genotypes could be a valuable alternative for cool environments, but no information is available about the performance of sugary × sugary enhancer hybrids under such conditions. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the potential of sugary × sugary enhancer sweet corn genotypes in cool environments in comparison with sugary and sugary enhancer genotypes. Eight sugary lines and eight sugary enhancer lines were used as the parental lines of 15 sugary, 12 sugary enhancer, and 57 sugary × sugary enhancer hybrids that were evaluated in three different cool environments. The results of this work show that sweet corn cultivars with the Se1se1 genotype are an appropriate alternative for cool areas because they have better plant and ear types and a better eating quality than the Se1Se1 genotypes, and better emergence, early vigor, and shorter flowering time than se1se1 genotypes.

Research supported by the National Plan For Research and Development of Spain (Project Cod. AGL2004-06776) and Excma. Diputación Provincial de Pontevedra, Spain. Bernardo Ordas acknowledge a fellowship from the Xunta de Galicia and from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain, respectively.

Diputación Provincial de Pontevedra

Xunta de Galicia

Peer reviewed

MCYT