Studies on Characters Related to Yield and Quality of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grown in Gangetic Plains of West Bengal, India

Forty nine genotypes of wheat including two triticale varieties were studied for two years in Nadia, West Bengal district during 2010–11 and 2011–12. A wide range of variability was noticed for all characters except days to maturity. Minimum differences between PCV and GCV was found in all characters except number of tillers plant⁻¹, chlorophyll-b content and grain protein content indicating very little environmental influence on most of these characters, providing enough scope for exploitation of genetic variability through selection on the basis of phenotypic values. High heritability coupled with moderate to low genetic advance were observed for days to heading, days to flowering, plant height and spike length and moderate to high heritability coupled with high genetic advance for number of spikelets spike⁻¹, number of grains spike⁻¹, weight of grains spike⁻¹, flag leaf area, chlorophyll-a content, chlorophyll-b content, total chlorophyll content and yield plant⁻¹ were highlighted. Yield plant⁻¹ showed significantly positive correlation with plant height, number of tillers plant⁻¹, spike length, number of grains spikes⁻¹ and weight of grains spike⁻¹ at both genotypic and phenotypic levels and the characters viz. days to flowering, plant height, number of tillers plant⁻¹, number of spikelets spike⁻¹, number of grains spike⁻¹, weight of grains spike⁻¹, chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b content had shown high direct positive effects toward grain yield and number of tillers plant⁻¹ has been identified as the main contributor to grain yield and on the basis of these characters the genotypes can be utilized for maximization of yield.