Kumar et al., Biological Forum – An International Journal 15(2): 909-915(2023) 909 ISSN No. (Print): 0975-1130 ISSN No. (Online): 2249-3239 Deciphering of Popcorn (Zea mays var. everta) Heterosis for Early Maturity, Yield and Popping Expansion Volume Across Different Environments Munnesh Kumar * , Ashok Singhamsetti, Kartik Madankar and Pavan Devesh Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) India. (Corresponding author: Munnesh Kumar*) (Received: 02 January 2023; Revised: 16 February 2023; Accepted: 19 February 2023; Published: 22 February 2023) (Published by Research Trend) ABSTRACT: Maize (Zea mays L., 2n = 20), a valuable crop, comes from Mexico to Central Africa and is a cross-pollinated, monoecious, annual plant in the family Poaceae. According to modern concepts, heterosis is the bringing of favourable genes from two different parents into the progeny to overcome barriers and obtain a better genotype with better yield. WINPOP-3×HKIPC-7 cross can be used in developing early maturing lines and WINPOP-8×HKIPC-7, WINPOP-8×HKIPC-5 for heterotic combination of yield per plant, is useful in developing high-yield superior lines with good popping quality. The best heterotic combination of yield per plant was WINPOP-8×HKIPC-7, WINPOP-8×HKIPC-5 over standard checks, which can be further exploited in developing high yielding and popping quality. Keywords: Heterosis, Popcorn, Popping Volume, Early Maturity. INTRODUCTION Maize (Zea mays L., 2n =20) is the most diversified and versatile crop among cereal crops. It is an annual, monoecious, cross-pollinated plant with a native range of Mexico and Central Africa. It was domesticated from a wild maize ancestor (Teosinte) and is referred to as the "queen of cereals" due to its vast genetic base and high yield potential. In India, a highly populous country in which rice and wheat are staple food crops, followed by maize, which is the 3rd in area and 7th in production among corn-cultivated countries, accounting for approximately 4% of the global area and 2% of production. India's maize cultivation surpassed 9.2 million hectares in 2018-19. (DACNET, 2020). In 1950- 51, it yielded 1.73 million metric tonnes (MT), which has climbed to 27.8 million metric tonnes (MT) in 2018-19, an increase of almost 16-fold (Sandhu et al., 2007). Popcornis an extremely unique form of flint corn with a very hard endosperm and a low portion of soft starch and is characterised by its popping ability on heating the kernel, which is a unique quality of the endosperm (Acquaah et al., 2006). Popcorn swells and puffs up when heated and is a popular recreational snack with a high nutritional content (Rakshit et al., 2003). It is a globally popular snack because it is an excellent source of carbohydrates, energy and fibre. It's a healthy, tasty food that helps digestion by giving the body the fibre it needs (Rodovalho et al., 2008). Indian popcorn cultivars have a lower popping ratio as compared to European and American cultivars. The high demand for popcorn has spurred research to discover traits that dictate its idiosyncratic popping ability and many attempts have been made to develop a popcorn industry, but it has been a hurdle because of the absence of stable and optimal hybrids with high popping volume and efficiency (Larish and Brewbaker 1999) and also a lack of superior popcorn germplasm for popping characteristics, including popping volume, flake size, popping percent and high- yield (Robbins and Ashman 1984; Dofing et al., 1990) due to narrow genetic background because most of the popcorn lines are descended from flint germplasm (Kantety et al., 1995). However, it has relatively poor agronomic, yield and popping quality and also more susceptible and prone to disease and pests. In Indian popcorn breeding programmes, improvement of popcorn genotypes are almost untouched. As of now, very few single-cross hybrids (DMRHP-1402, BPCH-6, Pant popcorn-1) as well as a few composites (Amber popcorn, VL Almora popcorn) are available in the public domain with low popping volume and yield potential. As a consequence, there is a critical and urgent demand for the creation of optimal hybrids with high yielding gain and high popping volume. In this research, we focused on designing new single-cross popcorn hybrids that are stable, uniform, early-maturing, with higher yields and better popping quality than composite cultivars. They need to be bred for a long time. The development of single-cross popcorn hybrids requires a proper road map to understand the genetic architecture of popcorn based on the underlying diallel mating design in the breeding programme. The main object of this manuscript'' Deciphering of popcorn (zea mays var. Everta) heterosis for early maturity, yield and popping volume across different environments MATERIALS AND METHODS The experimental genetic material was comprised of all the available popcorn inbred lines. The selected promising 9 inbred line were planted in a crossing block during Rabi 2017 and all possible single cross combination carried out and their successive progenies are maintained by selfing and sib matting techniques. The 36 crosses thus formed along with the 9 parents Biological Forum – An International Journal 15(2): 909-915(2023)