PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SEVEN GENOTYPES AND THEIR COMPLETE DIALLEL CROSSES AND HERITABILITY ESTIMATE FOR BREAD WHEAT (TRITICUM AESIVUM L.)

Abstract

Seeds of five new bread wheat entries ,Kea, Tr380, 2Ca, Tow”s” and Kvz in addition to the two local varieties, Saberbeg and Abou-Graib-3 were sown during the season 1997/1998 . Complete diallel cross program was applied for the seven parents . In the following season the performance of all the genotypes was evaluated through the study of the characters : number of days to 50% anthesis, plant height, number of spikes / plant, spike length, number of grains / spikes, biological yield / plant, grain yield / plant, harvest index, 1000-grain weight and protein percentage. Highly significant differences between genotypes were detected for the all characters. The entry, Tow”s” was superior for spike length, number of grains/spike, biological yield and 1000-grain weight, while the entry, Kea was exceeded on the others for number of spikes /plant and the reduction of plant height . Heterosis and heterobeltiosis for the two hybrids Abou-Graib-3 × Tr380 and Kvz × Tr380 were found for the number of spikes/plant, number of grains/spike, biological yield , grain yield/plant and 1000- grain weight.