Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1955

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Agronomy

Abstract

Cytoplasmic male sterility has become a factor in corn seed production during the past number of years. The advantage of male sterility is that the producer is saved the expense and trouble of detasseling in the single-cross and double-cross seed fields. It also could be an advantage in certified seed production in that it would eliminate the human error factor in the detasseling process. The disadvantage is that, at present, male sterile and male fertile seed must be mixed or blended to insure a kernel set when grown by the farmer. It is highly desirable that no seed go out to the consuming farmer with any question or possibility that there be a shortage of viable pollen during the time of fertilization. Therefore, the percentage of blend has become a problem of concern in hybrid corn seed production and certification work. Most federal, state and commercial corn breeders are working with male sterility. They are finding it to be a rather unstable type of tool with which to work because male sterile plants may have tassels that do not shed viable pollen in one location while in another location some viable pollen may be shed. No one has a sure way of knowing what value male sterility will eventually have in the overall picture of corn production. A desirable use of male sterile would be to have it in the female single-cross in producing double-cross seed and also to have male fertile restorer genes in the pollen parent of the double-cross seed production field so the consumer would have pollen in his fields. Since restorer genes are not yet ready for use, producers must still blend their seed when they use male sterility in their seed production program. Since environment affects the ability of plants to shed pollen, this study was set up to try to determine for South Dakota conditions what mixtures or blends it would be desirable to have to insure kernel set in the farmers fields and to aid in establishing certification standards for hybrid corn seed production.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Corn -- Varieties

Description

Includes bibliographic references

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

33

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/

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