Breeding maize as biogas substrate in Central Europe: II. Quantitative-genetic parameters for inbred lines and correlations with testcross performance.

Breeding maize for use as a biogas substrate (biogas maize) has recently gained considerable importance. To optimize hybrid breeding programs, information about line per se performance (LP) of inbreds and its relation to their general combining ability (GCA) is required. The objectives of our research were to (1) estimate variance components and heritability of LP for agronomic and quality traits relevant to biogas production, (2) study correlations among traits as well as between LP and GCA, and (3) discuss implications for breeding of biogas maize. We evaluated 285 diverse dent maize inbred lines in six environments. Data were recorded on agronomic and quality traits, including dry matter yield (DMY), methane fermentation yield (MFY), and their product, methane yield (MY), as the main target trait. In agreement with observations made for GCA in a companion study, variation in MY was mainly determined by DMY. MFY, which showed moderate correlation with lignin but only weak correlation with starch, revealed only low genotypic variation. Thus, our results favor selection of genotypes with high DMY and less focus on ear proportion for biogas maize. Genotypic correlations between LP and GCA [r (g) (LP, GCA)] were highest (≥0.94) for maturity traits (days to silking, dry matter concentration) and moderate (≥0.65) for DMY and MY. Multistage selection is recommended. Selection for GCA of maturity traits, plant height, and to some extent also quality traits and DMY on the level of LP looks promising.