1 Half-sib selection with progeny test

Half-sib or half-sib family selection is so-called because only one parent in the cross is known. In 1899, C.G. Hopkins first used this procedure to alter the chemical composition of corn by growing progeny rows from corn ears picked from desirable plants. Superior rows were harvested and increased as a new cultivar. The method as applied to corn is called ear - to- row breeding.

There are various half-sib progeny tests, such as, topcross progeny test, open-pollinated progeny test, and polycross progeny test. A half-sib is a plant  with a common parent or pollen source. Individuals in a half-sib selection are evaluated based on their half-sib progeny. Unlike mass selection in which individuals are selected solely on phenotypic basis, the half-sibs are selected based on the performance of their progenies. The specific identity of the pollen sources is not known.

Recurrent half-sib breeding has been used to improve agronomic traits as well as seed composition traits in corn. It is suited for improving traits with high heritability

and species that can produce sufficient seed per plant to grow a yield trial. Species with selfincompatibility or some other constraint of sexual biology  are also suited to this method of breeding.