Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Mass selection is a classic plant breeding method used to improve open-pollinated crops.
It involves selecting individuals based on phenotype, harvesting and mixing their seeds, and evaluating the resulting population.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The systematic sequence of steps in mass selection is:
Selection of superior plants (A): Identify and select plants with desirable, similar phenotypes from a diverse base population.
Compositing seeds (D): Harvest and mix (composite) the seeds from the selected plants to form a single bulk population.
Preliminary yield trials (B): Grow the composited seed in a preliminary trial to evaluate the performance and uniform phenotype of the selected population.
Coordinated multi-location trials (C): Evaluate the promising selections across different locations and agro-climatic zones to assess their yield stability.
5. Seed multiplication (E): Multiply the seed of the top-performing selection for commercial release and distribution to growers.
This sequence corresponds to (A) $\rightarrow$ (D) $\rightarrow$ (B) $\rightarrow$ (C) $\rightarrow$ (E).
Step 3: Final Answer:
The correct sequence of mass selection is (A), (D), (B), (C), (E).