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New Early Maturing Corn Varieties Developed by NDSU Corn Breeding Program

Selection for local adaptation to North Dakota's environments is essential for successful and sustainable corn production in the state.

The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station has released three new, improved varieties developed by the North Dakota State University corn breeding program.

The three new varieties are NDBSK(HI-M)C3, NDBS11(FR-M)C3 and NDBS1011.

""Selection for local adaptation to North Dakota's environments is essential for successful and sustainable corn production in the state, as well as for a good state corn-ethanol relationship,"" says Marcelo Carena, leader of the NDSU corn breeding program. ""These varieties are the result of a cost-effective program that allows the selection of elite late- temperate and tropical genetic materials for local adaptation to North Dakota and maximizes the genetic improvement at a minimum cost.

""This specific release is the result of screening more than 22,000 plants per variety at a rate of a year per cycle through stratified mass selection, one of the cheapest and most successful ways of selecting for local adaptation,"" he says. ""With only three years of selection, corn has become more than a week earlier in flowering.”

Each of the new varieties has unique features and are, for the first time, adapted to North Dakota conditions.

NDBSK(HI-M)C3 is an earlier version of BSK(HI)C11 (developed and improved at Iowa State University (ISU) from the Krug Yellow Dent variety). It is released as an improved early maturing germplasm source for the development of new and diverse inbred parents for early maturity, high quality and yielding corn hybrids. This improved population was consistently the best North Dakota improved population for grain yield performance, even though it had 6.9 percent less grain moisture at harvest than the original improved version brought to North Dakota.

NDBS11(FR-M)C3 is an earlier version of BS11(FR)C13 (developed and improved at ISU). It is released as an improved germplasm source for the development of new and diverse inbred parents for early maturity and high-yielding corn hybrids. It also is an elite parent for early maturing maize population hybrids. This improved population was consistently the best North Dakota improved population for grain moisture at harvest of all newly adapted populations (8.5 percent less moisture than the original improved version).

NDBS1011 is a cross between BS10(FR)C13 and BS11(FR)C13, both developed and improved at ISU. The original cross was made at NDSU and later improved for adaptation to North Dakota. It is a genetically diverse source of elite inbred lines.

""These releases are possible due to the continuous support of the North Dakota Corn Utilization Council, North Dakota Corn Growers Association, industry partners, corn grower partners, Agronomy Seed Farm, Oakes Irrigation Research Site and Research Extension Centers in Langdon, Carrington, Minot, Williston, Hettinger and Sidney, Mont,"" Carena says.

Hand-pollinated germplasm lots of 200 kernels are available from Carena by writing to the Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105.

Germplasm lots cost $500, but one lot of germplasm will be supplied at no cost to breeders from public institutions. For more information on the program, go to http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/plantsci/breeding/corn/.


NDSU Agriculture Communication

Source:Marcelo Carena, (701) 231-8138, marcelo.carena@ndsu.edu
Editor:Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.edu
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