Assessment of Genetic Variability and Direct-Indirect Contribution of Post-Anthesis Traits to the Grain Yield in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) at Different Sowing Dates
Sami Ul‐Allah, Asad Azeem, Ahmad Sher, Muhammad Ijaz, Abdul Sattar, Muhammad Asif Saleem, Memoona Bibi, Nasir Abbas, Mubshar Hussain
Abstract
In cotton-wheat cropping system of Pakistan, sowing of wheat is delayed which results in a heavy loss to the farmers. To this end, a two-year field experiment was conducted to i) asses the performance of genotypes under late sowing ii) heritability and genetic association of different traits under normal and late sowing for their use in the breeding programs. Experimental factors included 20 diverse wheat genotypes (16 advance lines and 04 approved varieties) factorially combined with two sowing dates i.e., normal sowing (11 and 13 November in 2018 and 2019, respectively) and late sowing (09 and 11 December in 2018 and 2019, respectively). The results revealed a highly significant (P 75%) of all the traits suggests a good genetic gain in breeding program by using these traits. As different genotypes performed best for different yield related traits, therefore a breeding program with a careful crossing plan should be developed to pyramid the genes for different traits for the development of genotypes adapted to late sowing.