Wheat Project Directorates, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012
1Present address: Botany Dept., Konkan K. V. V., Dapoli (Maharashtra).
*Part of the thesis submitted by the first author for Ph.D. degree of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.
Combining ability for yield and eight other component characters was studied in a 9 × 9 diallel cross in durum wheat. Three parents, viz., ‘Anhinga S’, ‘Cocorit S’ and ‘CPAN 1469’, were found to be the best general combiners for grain yield. ‘Cocorit S’ was found to be the best general combiner for number of grains per ear and weight of grains per ear, while ‘Anhinga S’ was the best general combiner for 1000-grain weight and number of days for heading. HD 4500 showed highest general combining ability for number of tillers per plant and ear length, while for plant height and number of spikelets per ear, ‘Jori S X Crane S’ and ‘Stewart 63’ came out as the best general combiners, respectively. Seven crosses exhibited significantly superior specific combining ability effects for grain yield. Both the parents of the crosses, ‘HD 4500 × Anhinga S’, ‘HD 4500 × Bijaga Yellow’ and ‘Cocorit S × Bijaga Yellow’, were positive general combiners. It is suggested that the varieties showing good general combining ability may be used in a multiple crossing programme for isolating high yielding varieties in durum wheats.
