3.2 Kernel number per ear (KN/ear), thousand kernel weight (TKW) and yield
KN/ear averaged 278 and 251 across Te, Tr, and Te×Tr lines at the first sowing date (S1), respectively, in 2015 and 2016, but reduced to 67 and 10 at S2, with Te was significantly lower than Tr (Figure 1A). From S1 to S2, KN/ear on average reduced by 89.21% in 2015 and 2016 for Te, 83.15% for Tr, and 84.75% for Te×Tr. In 2017 and 2018, the mean KN/ear was 189 and 83, respectively, with Te×Tr having a significantly lower KN/ear than Tr and Te in 2018.
On average, TKW was 234.4g at S1 and 212.9g at S2 (for two experimental years 2015 and 2016), and reduced to 192.4g and 156.6g in 2017 and 2018, respectively, with Tr having the highest TKW except in 2018 (Figure 1B). TKW on average over 2015 and 2016 reduced by 8.39% from S1 to S2 in Te, 11.34% in Tr, and 7.65% in Te×Tr.
Similar to KN/ear, yield on average across Te, Tr, and Te×Tr significantly reduced from 65.0 g/plant at S1 to 15.5 g/plant at S2 in 2015 and from 57.9 to 2.1 g/plant in 2016, with Te having the largest reduction (90.61%, Figure 1C). Yield was not significantly different among germplasms in 2017 and was on average 63.59% larger than in 2018. Yield in Te was significantly higher than in Tr and in Te×Tr.