Heterosis for yield and yield component traits in F1 and F2 generation of winter and spring wheat derivatives (line x tester)

Introgression of winter wheat gene pool in spring wheat is one of the potential approaches to break the yield barrier. The presence of heterosis indicates the ability of parents to combine well in hybrid combination. To assess the heterosis of yield and yield contributing traits, ten diverse winter wheat or their derivatives were crossed with three spring wheat testers in line x tester fashion to generate 30 cross combinations. The thirty F1 hybrids were advanced to generate 30 F2 s. 30 F1 s, 30 F2 s along with the 13 parents (10 lines and 3 testers) were evaluated in randomized block design during rabi 2016-17 at university Research Farm of Sher-e- Kashmir university of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu (SKUAST, J) Main campus, Chatha. Heterotic pattern estimation revealed that none of the cross combination had significant heterosis for all the traits. However, on individual trait basis, some of the crosses revealed significant heterosis. The crosses showing desirable heterosis (10 or more percent) were for yield attributing traits were Nordresprez x PBW 175, WW21 x PBW 175, Diana x PBW 175, WW12 x PBW 175, WW25 x PBW 175, Diana NS 720 x PBW 175, respectively for both in F1 and F2 generation of crosses. Significant desirable heterosis for many traits was revealed suggesting the possibility of yield improvement through heterosis breed.