Genotypic Performance of F4:7 Wheat Lines under Irrigated and Rainfed Conditions

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important crop also known as the king of cereals and consumed as a staple crop by one-third of the global population. However, wheat production under rainfed conditions is restrained by water scarcity. The experiment was conducted to evaluate wheat breeding lines for yield. Fifteen F4:7 bread wheat lines along with two check cultivars Tatara and AUP-5008 were tested in RCB design in three replications under irrigated and rainfed conditions. Analysis of variance showed significant (p<0.01) differences among the genotypes for days to heading, plant height, spike length, grains spike-1, grain weight spike-1, 1000-grains weight and grain yield while non-significant for rest of the traits. Genotype by environment (GE) interaction was significant (P<0.05) for grain yield and non-significant for the remaining traits.1000-grains weight showed positive significant correlation with grain weight spike-1. Grain weight spike-1 revealed positive significant correlation with grains spike-1, harvest index and grain yield. Grains per spike exhibited positive significant correlation with harvest index and grain yield. Harvest index presented positive significant correlation with grain yield. Among wheat lines, maximum (4278 kg) grain yield was produced by Tatara/Margla-5 followed by Margala/Inqelab-5 (4056 kg) under irrigated and the lines Margala/Inqelab-5 (3833 kg) and Wefaq/Ghaznavi-2 (3500 kg) produced maximum grain yield under rainfed condition. According to the results of the study irrigated environment was recommended for wheat sowing. The lines Margala/ Inqelab-5 and Tatara/Takbeer-1 relative performance was maximum and were recommended for sowing under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. Thus these lines could further be evaluated for future breeding programs.