A Comparison of Three Selection Methods in Two Wheat Crosses*

Three selection methods, single plant selection, single seed descent (SSD) and bulk selection, were compared in two wheat crosses, namely, WL711 × HD2122 (cross 1) and HD2122 × Sonalika (cross, 2). The comparison of mean performance of ten populations (parents, F₁s, F₂s, F₃ selected, F₃SSD, F₂ bulk, F₄ selected, F₄SSD and F₄ bulk) indicated superiority of selected populations over other populations. The mean values of both F₂ (selected) and F₄ (selected) populations were higher than those of F₂ population for almost all characters in both crosses. However, selection in the F, generation was more desirable than in the F, generation. The effectiveness of selection at F₃ level appeared to be due to the preponderance of additive gene effects with additive X additive epistasis. The generation mean analysis, on the whole, indicated the preponderance of additive gene effects for almost all the characters. The SSD method was found better than bulk population breeding. The inter-generation phenotypic correlation coefficients between F₃ parent plants and F₄ progenies were significant for most of the characters in both crosses. However, such correlations between F, plants and F2 progenies were generally non-significant.