Combining Ability, Agronomic Performance, Yield, and Fresh-eating Quality of Waxy Maize Hybrids Evaluated Across Two Cropping Seasons

This study evaluated growth performance, yield components, fresh ear yield, grain yield, and eating quality of eleven waxy maize hybrids in comparison with the control variety HN68 across two cropping seasons. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Significant differences were observed among the tested hybrids in growth duration, plant height, ear characteristics, yield, and quality traits. The harvesting time ranged from 70 to 73 days, indicating that the hybrids were well adapted to the seasonal growing conditions. Among the evaluated materials, the hybrid N59 × N15 showed the best overall performance, with superior plant height, ear length, fresh ear yield (11.8 t ha⁻¹), and grain yield (5.1 t ha⁻¹), which were significantly higher than those of the control variety at the 5% significance level. Several other hybrids, particularly N02 × N7B and N02 × N59, also demonstrated high and relatively stable yields across both seasons, indicating good production potential. Eating quality scores ranged from 2.38 to 2.88, suggesting acceptable to good sensory quality among the tested hybrids. In addition, the coefficient of variation for major traits was below 7%, indicating high experimental reliability and consistency of the results. The results suggest that N59 × N15 is the most promising hybrid for further large-scale production trials. Meanwhile, N02 × N7B and N02 × N59 also showed considerable potential and should be further evaluated in broader ecological conditions before commercial release.