A Look Back at Maize Improvement: 8 Decades of Integrating Multiple Breeding Tools to Deliver High Performance Maize Germplasm.

Hybrid maize breeding in the U.S. is a profession that has contributed to over eight decades of improved performance.  Many studies have been conducted, especially over the last 35 years, to measure maize grain yield increases attributed to genetic improvement.  Most commonly, estimates of 40-60% have been attributed to genetic improvement.  In this presentation of maize grain yield increases, several topics will be reviewed:  1) estimations of genetic gain for grain yield in maize, 2) technologies that contributed to these improvements and the plant breeders instrumental in creating these improvements and 3) leveraging 80 years of germplasm knowledge to understand changes in maize germplasm that were created over time.