STUDY OF HYBRID PERFORMANCE AND HETEROSIS IN F1 POPULATION OF BREAD WHEAT [TRITICUM AESTIVUM (L.) EM. THELL]Manisha Kumari, Hemlata Sharma and Abhay DashoraAbstract The experiment was carried out in bread wheat to estimate the magnitude of heterosis in respect of fifteen quantitative traits. A diallel set of 10 x 10 was prepared by crossing 10 wheat genotypes [Triticum aestivum (L.) em. Thell] in all possible combinations excluding reciprocals and their 45 F1s along with two checks were evaluated in randomized block design with three replications in three different environments, i.e. E1, E2 and E3 at different locations during Rabi 2020-21. The significance of ANOVA due to parents, crosses and parents v/s crosses indicated the presence of the significant amount of variability in the experimental material. Among the crosses, eight crosses HD 3086 x Raj 4079, HD 3086 x WR 544, RAJ4238xRAJ3077, Raj 4238 x Raj 4079, Raj 4238xWR544, MHD 3086203 x DBW 187, HI 1544 x Raj 4079 and HI1544xWR544 in E2, E3 and on pooled basis while 1 cross (Raj 4238 x Raj 3077) in E1 out yielded the best check (Sonalika). Three crosses, RAJ4238xRAJ4079, Raj 4238 x DBW187 and MHD3086203xDBW187 exhibited significant heterobeltiosis for grain yield in all the three environments as well as on pooled basis. Five crosses viz., RAJ 4238 x Raj 3077 (16.65), HD 3086 x Raj 4079 (16.33), Raj 4238 x Raj 4079 (16.30), HI 1544 x RAJ 4079 (16.15) and Raj 4238 x DBW 187 (14.62) exhibited maximum grain yield per plant than the general mean (12.69) as well as significance of heterosis over standard check. The superiority of above crosses reveals good scope for commercial exploitation of heterosis by developing superior segregants and better pure lines for crop improvement programmes. |