Variations for Grain Yield and Milling Value of Durum Wheat Landraces and Obsolete Cultivars

The experimental materials consisting of five obsolete cultivars and 26 durum wheat populations were used to investigate the variation, heritability, genetic advance for grain yield (GY), 1000 grain weight (TGW), test weight (TW) and percentage of vitreous grain (VG) in Tekirdag, Turkey during four growing years. Relatively large variation was observed for grain yield, 1000 grain weight and percentage of vitreous grain. The highest coefficient of variation (CV) was observed in grain yield. The phenotype coefficient of variation (PCV) was generally higher than the genotype coefficient of variation (GCV) for all traits. The highest heritability (85%) and expected genetic advance (9.35) were estimated for percentage of vitreous grain. Grain yield and test weight had the lowest heritability estimates (33% and 44%, respectively) with a relatively low value for expected genetic advance (0.92 and 3.82, respectively). Landraces of G3 and G2 groups were the most suitable materials in enriching genetic variability for percentage of vitreous grain and 1000 grain weight in breeding programs and could be worth a direct breeding effort following pure line selection programs that aim to develop cultivars adapted to modern cropping conditions. In addition, they are a reliable and valuable genetic material for use in future breeding studies. Key Words: landrace, variation, yield, 1000 grain weight, test weight, percentage of vitreous grain Abbreviations: GCV - genetic coefficient of variation, GFP - grain filling period, GY - grain yield, PCV - phenotypic coefficient of variation, TGW - thousand grain weight, TW - test weight, VG - vitreous grain