Quantitative descriptors for classification and characterization of highland Peruvian maize

摘要

The assessment of genetic diversity within a species is important for its improvement. Germplasm evaluation has three objectives; (a) characterization of germplasm according to morphological characters, (b) determination of the agronomic value of thegermplasm for its improvement, and (c) classification and establishment of relationships between and within species. Regardless of the objective of germplasm evaluation, morphological (either qualitative or quantitative) descriptors should have high heritability and low environmental influence, i.e. constant (or stable) phenotypic expression in all the environments (Sevilla and Holle 1995). Also they must be easy to be visually scored. However, the evaluation of descriptors that are influenced by the environment to a large extent can be warranted if they are important agronomic traits.