Abstract:
A field experiment was conducted during three consecutive
winter seasons of the years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 at
Merowe Research Station Farm, Northern State, Sudan to
estimate the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance
of grain yield and yield contributing traits in 16 bread wheat
genotypes grown under saline and non – saline field conditions.
The genotypes were arranged in a randomized complete block
design with three replications. In both sites, the analysis of
variance revealed highly significant differences among
genotypes for all the traits studied. The phenotypic coefficient
of variation (PCV) was higher than the genotypic coefficient of
variation (GCV), which indicates a slight effect of environment
on the expression of the characters studied. In both sites, high
genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic
coefficient of variation (PCV) were recorded for number of
spikes per m2, plant height and number of grains per spike. In
both sites, heritability exhibited wide range of variation. At non
– saline site, the high heritability in broad sense was estimated
for number of days to 50% heading (87.03), number of days to
90% maturity (85.13), plant height (83.79), 1000 – grain weight
(62.78) and number of spikes per m2 (58.87). On the other
hand, at saline site high heritability estimates were recorded for
number of days to 90% maturity (85.16) followed by number of
days to 50% heading (84.29) and plant height (53.11). These
traits also indicated high genetic advance except the plant
height. In both sites, high heritability coupled with high genetic
advance as percent of means were recorded for number of days
to 50% heading, number of days to 90% maturity and plant
height that indicated presence of additive gene action in the
inheritance of these traits.
