Adaptability and stability of corn cultivars in the Brazilian northeast

The yield stability of 21 corn cultivars was submitted to 26 different envi ronments of the Brazilian Northeast region during the 1997 year crop, aimin g to obtain regionally adapted materials. The experiments were carried out in a completely randomized block design with three replications. Significan t differences were detected between environments, cultivars and differentia l behavior of cultivars facing environmental variations, by the analysis of variance. The obtained mean productivity of 4,301 kg/ha shows the potentia l of the cultivars and the good potential of the Brazilian Northeast region for corn crop. All the cultivars showed yield stability under the consider ed environments. The hybrids, which had better performance than cultivars, constitute an excellent alternative for the region, highlighting among them the BR 3123, Agromen 2003 and Germinal 600, with positive responses to imp roved environment. The cultivars BR 106, BR 5004 and BR 5033 have their rec ommendation justified, mostly for small and medium size growers, where they surely will contribute for the improvement of corn productivity.