JOURNAL OF LIAONING TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
(NATURAL SCIENCE EDITION)
LIAONING GONGCHENG JISHU DAXUE XUEBAO (ZIRAN KEXUE BAN)
辽宁工程技术大学学报（自然科学版）
GENETIC VARIABILITY AND HERITABILITY FOR YIELD AND YIELD-ASSOCIATED TRAITS OF WHEAT GENOTYPES IN PESHAWAR VALLEY
Muhammad Anas*, Muhammad Taimur, Tehreem Shah, Abdul Haleem, Mian Ahmad Raza, Hakimullah, Muneeb Ahamd Khan, Muhammad Esar Ullah Shah
Knowledge of heritability is important for plant breeders to develop effective selection strategies. This experiment was conducted to estimate genetic variability, heritability and genetic progress in bread wheat genotypes at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan during the 2019/20 growing season. Planting material comprising 12 advanced bread wheat lines was grown in a three-replicate, complete block design. Data were recorded on plant height, spike length, spikelet spikelet-1, spike density, spikelet spike-1 grains, 1000 grain weight, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index. The results showed significant variation for all traits among the wheat genotypes tested. This suggested the existence of reasonable genetic variability among the tested wheat genotypes. Mean data for plant height ranged from 79 cm to 99 cm, for spikelet length from 7.4 cm to 10 cm, and for spikelet-1 from 15.13 to 18.63. Similarly, the mean data for spike density ranged from 1.59 to 2.33, for grain spike-1 from 29 to 59, and the 1000-grain weight from 27.80 g to 44.77 g. The mean data for the biological yield varied between 4776 kg ha-1 and 6090 kg ha-1, the grain yield between 1810 kg ha-1 and 2716 kg ha-1 and the harvest index between 33% and 54%. The tallest plant was recorded for genotype AUPG01 (99 cm), the maximum spike length was observed for AUPG06 (10 cm), the maximum number of spikelets spike-1 was recorded for AUPG11 (18.63), the value of high spike density became recorded for AUPG03 (2.30), the maximum number of grains spike-1 was observed for AUPG12 (50.47), the maximum weight of 1000 grains was recorded for AUPG07 (44.77 g), the biological yield was maximum for AUPG01 (6090 kg ha-1). In contrast, the grain yield for AUPG07 was maximum (2716 kg ha-1) and the harvest index was recorded for AUPG07 as maximum (54.32%). Wheat genotype AUPG07 outperformed grain yield, while AUPG03 showed a higher biological yield. Maximum spike length, as well as high grain spike-1, were recorded for AUPG06. AUPG07 was observed for the highest 1000-grain weight. Among the genotypes, AUPG02 was distinguished by dwarf traits. The AUPG07 and AUPG06 genotypes resulted in superior grain yield among the genotypes. The heritability for different traits ranged from 0.36 to 0.88. The highest heritability in the broadest sense, coupled with moderate to high genetic advancement, was recorded for plant height, grain spike-1, biological yield, and grain yield. These results could be helpful for wheat breeders to use the most promising wheat genotypes from this study in future breeding programs to improve wheat cultivars.
Keywords: Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, yield traits