Eterotic Study for Morpho-Yield Traits in F1 Population of Bread Wheat over Two Locations

Crop improvement is the prime objective of plant breeder by utilizing conventional and non-conventional breeding techniques. Different types of genetic studies are necessary to aggregate the desirable genes in a single genotype. Current study was therefore design to assess the heterosis for yield and yield traits among six parental wheat cultivars along with their 30 F1 hybrids developed through crosses in full diallel mating design during spring 2021. These genotypes were evaluated in field experiments during rabi season of 2021 at two different locations, i.e., Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI) and Agriculture research farm, ‘The University of Agriculture Peshawar KP-Pakistan’. All the experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications using Pirsbabk-13 as a check to identify suitable hybrid combinations based on their genetic potential for commercial cultivation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Data were recorded on yield and related traits. Most of the F1 hybrids revealed positive mid, better parent, and economic heterosis effects for Flag leaf area, spikelet spike-1, grain spike-1, 1000-grain weight, and grain yield plant-1 at both locations. For grain yield plant 1; F1 hybrids Benazir x Inqilab-91 showed significant positive mid better parent heterosis (27.13%), heterobeltiosis (19.79%), and economic heterosis (24.36%) at CCRI. Regarding mid-parent heterosis and heterobeltiosis for grain yield, hybrids Ghaznavi-98 x Benazir revealed significant positive increases of 32.43 % and 49.62% respectively, at UAP. However, hybrid Parula x Benazir manifested significant economic heterosis of 45.10% at UAP. Therefore, these F1 hybrids could be recommended for crop growing areas in both tested locations and isolation of pure lines among the progenies of heterotic F1 for future breeding programs for developing high-yielding wheat varieties.