GRAIN YIELD AND STABILITY OF TURKISH NATIONAL POPCORN HYBRIDS UNDER DIFFERENT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

The research was conducted to determine the grain yield and stability of popcorn hybrids grown in four different climatic conditions in 2016 and 2017 growing seasons. The experiments were carried out in 8x8 lattice design with three replications using 59 candidate popcorn hybrids and 5 commercial standard varieties. Mean popcorn yields of genotypes in Izmir, Isparta, Samsun, Çankırı/Amasya locations for 2016 and 2017 were 5.40-5.51 t ha-1 and 5.41-6.12 t ha-1, 5.74-5.75 t ha-1 and 5.49-5.11 t ha-1, respectively. The results indicated that 2015-31, 2016-31, 2016-51 and 2015-59 popcorn lines had high yield potential. The stability analysis based on the b, r2 and S2d values showed that 2015-22, 2015-28 and 2015-102 genotypes are the most stable hybrid lines determined in the first year. In the second year, the 2016-5, 2016-52, 2016-59 and 2016-6 genotypes come to the fore with the high adaptation ability.