Effects of agroecological conditions and hybrid combinations on maize seed germination.

Germination energy and seed germination of four maize combinations cultivated under different growing conditions were observed. Analysis of hybrid seed of four commercial combinations derived at the Maize Research Institute, Zemun Polje, grown in three locations, were done on the working sample of 4 x 100 seeds under laboratory conditions. The experimental data was processed for the mean and total variability (X and C.V.) for both seed traits and for each test variant. The total average values of germination energy and germination in the period of investigation amounted to 94.5% and 94.8%, respectively. The coefficient of variation for germination energy was 0.67%, while for germination it was 0.39%. In the five-year study, the hybrid combination ZP704 had the highest values of germination energy (95.9%) and total germination (96.3%).Test results indicate that coefficients of variations for both observed traits over years were low, which points out to homogeneity of the material. Significant effects of factors (hybrid and location) and their interaction on observed seed properties were established by the analysis of variance. Gained results indicate that all four hybrids had high level of expression of traits under changeable agroecological conditions, as well as, a great effect of factors (hybrid and location) on germination energy and seed germination.