Correlation among adaptability and stability assessment models in maize cultivars

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to associate four different adaptability and stability analysis models using the Spearman's correlation based on productivity data. Twenty-five (25) hybrid maize cultivars were assessed in 11 environments located in the Brazilian Northeastern region, between 2012 and 2013. The study has followed a complete randomized block design with two repetitions. There was high correlation between the methods by Cruz et al. and Eberhart and Russel. Both methods have shown mean correlation with the method by Verma et al. With respect to favorable environments, the methodology by Lin and Binns has shown high correlation with the methods by de Cruz et al. and Eberhart and Russel, as well as negative correlation with the method by Verma et al. The methods by Lin and Binns and Verma et al. should not be used together, since there was no correlation between them. The combined use of the methods by de Cruz et al. and Eberhart and Russel has provided the best genotype selection results, since these methods associated productivity data with the cultivars' stability and adaptability. Therefore, these methods were the most adequate for this type of analysis.