2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Yield stability of a cultivar is its performance over a range of growing conditions relative to other cultivars. A cultivar that yields well in most environments, relative to other cultivars, has above-average yield stability. In contrast, a cultivar that yields relatively poorly in certain environments has below-average yield stability. The ideal cultivar has not only above-average stability, but also above-average yield. In theory, characterizing both yield and yield stability would identify cultivars that would be most suitable for use in specific production areas. To the best of our knowledge, no one has determined the relationship between yield stability of cultivars to the actual adoption and use of those cultivars on the landscape. Using processing sweet corn as a model crop, we determined the pattern of cultivar adoption and use in relation to cultivar yield and yield stability. Yield stability analyses of ear mass, recovery, and case production were conducted on popular sweet corn cultivars grown in varied environments across the northern U.S. Yield and yield stability of cultivars were then related to their adoption and use by the sweet corn processing industry over a two-decade period. Some cultivars exhibited above-average yield or stability, but there was scant evidence of both traits in individual cultivars. As expected, adoption of cultivars with below-average yield or stability was less than other cultivars. Above-average stability in case production, defined as the number of cases of canned sweet corn product per hectare, mattered more to the sweet corn processing industry than all other measures of yield. In essence, the industry favors ‘workhorse’ cultivars with strong case production over a wide range of environments over ‘racehorse’ cultivars that do well in only the most favorable environments.