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Seven early maturing open pollinated (OP) and five yellow hybrid maize varieties were evaluated in 1996 under the auspices of the Nationally Coordinated Research Project (NCRP) on Maize. The experiment was conducted in 22 locations representing the different agro-ecologies of Nigeria. Significant location effects were observed for grain yield in the two sets of maize varieties tested. Grain yield was significantly higher in the northedsouthern guinea savanna agro-ecologies when compared to the other agro-ecologies. Highly significant varietal differences were found among the OPs and the yellow hybrids. The highest yielding OP variety was TZE Comp.4 DMR BCI with an average grain yield of 2.43 t ha-' while the best yellow hybrid was 8522-2 with a mean grain yield of 2.82 t ha-'. Comparison of the results of the OPs and the hybrids showed that the hybrid had an average of 18.2% yield advantage over the OPs. The hybrid maize varieties and four of the seven OPs were found to be stable in grain production across the locations. Significant genotype x location interaction was also observed for both sets of maize varieties. The best hybrid (8522-2) combined stability with high grain yield and wide adaptability. This variety may thus be introduced to farmers throughout the country.

There is growing interest for yellow maize among farmers and the food and feed industries in West Africa. Testing of maize hybrids in multi‐location trials is crucial for identifying adapted high‐yielding candidates for quick release. This study was designed to evaluate yield stability of three‐way cross yellow maize hybrids across 17 diverse environments in the savannas of West Africa. Highly significant differences (P < 0.001) were observed among hybrids across locations. The interaction between genotypes and environments was significant for grain yield and most other agronomic traits, with high repeatability (0.68) for grain yield across the test environments. The hybrid A1001‐19 was found to be the highest yielding, with yield advantage of 10% over the commercial hybrid Oba Super 2. The genotype, genotype by environment biplot identified hybrid A1001‐7 as the most stable hybrid with above‐average grain yield, followed by A1001‐10. However, A1001‐19 was relatively stable and was the best hybrid in 12 of the 17 environments across Mali, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Kudu and Zaria 2013 were the most discriminating locations for the hybrids. The stable yield performance of A1001‐7 and A1001‐10, and to a larger extent A1001‐19, would benefit farmers and seed producers with limited capacity to handle single‐cross hybrids. Hybrid A1001‐10 was released by partners, and hybrids A1001‐7 and A1001‐19 have been evaluated in national performance and on‐farm trials for potential release. This would provide more food for resource‐poor farmers and raw materials for food and feed industries and would result in increased household incomes of smallholder farmers in West Africa.Core Ideas There is growing interest for yellow maize among farmers, food, and feed industries. Testing maize hybrids in several locations is crucial for identifying best candidates. Highly significant differences were observed among the hybrids across 17 locations. Three hybrids were relatively stable across locations compared with a commercial hybrid. These will benefit producers with limited capacity to handle single‐cross hybrids.

Field trials and laboratory experiments were conducted on six advanced breeding lines of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) between 2004 and 2006 to genetically assess the organoleptic properties of the tomato lines, determine the relationships among tomato traits using correlation analysis and to estimate the fruit yield potential of the tomato lines. The trial was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replicates. Planting was done on four-row plots of 8 x 5 m using intra row spacing of 60 x 50 cm to obtain a plant population of 33,333 per ha. The results show that agronomic traits such as plant height, fruit weight and fruit yield differed significantly from one line to another, while significant differences exist in their organoleptic properties such as percentage titratable acid, organic acids, sugars and dry matter contents. Fruit yield ranged from 11.0 Mg/ha (CLN 1462B) to 30.0 Mg/ha (Manuella). The highest correlation coefficient (r=0.99) was found in the relationship between fruit weight and fruit yield. Titratable acids was highly and positively correlated with dry matter content, citric acid and malic acid, while malic acid among others was negatively and significantly correlated with fructose, glucose and pH.