Three‐Way Crosses vs. Single Crosses in Tobacco: First Agronomic Assessment
2017
Berbeć, Apoloniusz
In view of the increasing costs and reduced profit margins of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) production, three‐way‐cross hybrids (TWCHs) of flue‐cured tobacco were developed and examined for their potential to improve the agronomic performance and economic efficiency of the crop. Three TWCHs, each with a pair of related single‐cross hybrids (SCHs), were compared in a replicated field trial performed at two farm locations for two years for the degree of within‐population morphological variation, cured leaf yield, crop quality index, and gross revenue from unit crop area. Some significant differences in quartile coefficient of dispersion (QCD) were recorded for plant height (TWCH‐B vs. unrelated SCHs, among SCHs) and for leaf area (among TWCHs and among SCHs). No significant differences in QCD were detected between TWCHs and any of their related SCHs. Two of the TWCHs showed no significant differences in leaf yield when compared with their single‐cross counterparts. In the third TWCH (i.e., TWCH‐A), there was an overall significant increase in leaf yield (0.76 t ha‐¹ and 0.39 t ha‐¹) over SCH‐A1 and SCH‐A2, respectively. Only two significant differences in leaf quality index among the nine hybrids and none between TWCHs vs. related SCHs were found. There was a correlation coefficient of 0.98 between leaf yield and monetary value of the crop. Thus, the economic gains recorded for TWCH‐A vis‐à‐vis its SCH counterparts were attributable to increased yield.
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