Number of replicates and experimental precision statistics in corn

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the number of replicates on experimental precision in corn (Zea mays). Data on the grain yield of 15 corn cultivars, evaluated in a randomized complete block design, with nine replicates (r = 9), were used. From the experiment with nine replicates, further experiments were conducted with combinations of 2, 3, ..., r-1 replicates. The analysis of variance was carried out for each experiment. Experimental precision statistics and central tendency and variability measures were calculated, dispersion diagrams were prepared, and models of these statistics were adjusted as a function of the number of replicates. The number of replicates was determined by the visual analysis of the graphs with the experimental precision statistics. Increasing the number of replicates improves the estimates of experimental precision but decreases gains. Therefore, the increase in the number of replicates is important to improve corn cultivar discrimination. Six replicates are recommended as the benchmark for experiments with corn cultivars. Fasoulas’ differentiation index, based on the percentage of significant contrasts, is an appropriate statistic for evaluating experimental precision.