Relative efficiency of various single plant selection criteria and F3 generation yield testing in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

The relative efficiency of the various single F2 plant selection criteria was evaluated in three F2 populations of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The criteria considered were: (i) selection for high as well as low values of seven individual plant traits (grain yield per se, plant height, grains per spike, 100 grain weight, tiller number, biological yield and harvest index), (ii) selection of single plants based on an index involving greater values of the above seven traits than their means of the population, and (iii) random selection, in association with and without yield testing in the Fs generation. The selection pattern of the parent F2 plant(s) of each of the ten highest yielding Fs selected F4 bulk progenies and F4 bulk progenies revealed that (i) selection of plants in F2 populations on the basis of a single trait was relatively more effective than selection at random while selection based on the index was ineffective, (ii) selection of plants with higher expression of trait(s) resulted into 75% of the highest yielding F4 bull. progenies, (iii) selection of individual plants in F2 generation based on biological yield followed by grain yield per se proved most effective, and (iv) the yield testing in Fs generation was only moderately efficient in identification of high yielding F4 bulk progenies.