The Effect of Chromosome 1B/1R Translocation on the Yield Potential of Certain Spring Wheats (Triticum aestivum L.)

Nearly 50 percent of the 1988 advanced breeding lines of the CIMMYT bread wheat breeding program possess the 1B/1R homozygous translocation. Hence, a trial was conducted to estimate the effect of 1B/1R chromosome translocation on the yield potential of some of our high‐yielding spring wheats, where non‐limiting levels of fertility, moisture, preventive pest and disease programs were used. In conclusing the 1B/1R lines seemed to have increased their above‐ground biomass yield, number of spikes per meter2, 1000‐grain weight and test weight. They also exhibited a slight advantage over the 1B homozygous lines on grain yield. The observed difference, however, was non‐significant, as was the plant height difference observed among the two groups. Varietal comparisons indicated that the 1B/1R group headed later than the 1B group.