Updating the ranking of the coefficients of variation from maize experiments

the objective of this study was to update the ranking of the coefficients of variation (cvs) from maize experiments and evaluate the accuracy of the data from the latest brazilian publications. we rank-ordered the cvs for grain yield, plant and ear heights, number of ears per plant, and weight of commercial ears, except for the weight of 100 grains. the data were obtained from 143 scientific papers published from 2005 to 2010. the classification was based on the average (m) and standard deviation (sd) and the cvs were ranked as low, intermediate, high and very high. all of the random variables had the cvs normally distributed. for most of the traits, we observed a large difference between the ranks from scapim and pimentel gomes. in summary, the coefficients of variation have to be classified for each variable, significant improvement occurred in the accuracy of the national maize experiments in the last 15 years, and they still require periodic updating.