Principles of Plant Breeding (2+1)

Stratified mass selection

• It is also known as Grid method of mass selection or unit selection. Here the field from which plants are to be selected will be divided into smaller units or plots having 40 to 50 plants / plot. From each plot equal number of plants will be selected. The seeds from selected plants will be harvested and bulked to raise the next generation, by dividing the field into smaller plots, the environmental variation is minimised. This method was followed to improve maize crop.