Comparison of some selection criteria in two spring wheat crosses

The F₂ populations of two spring wheat crosses (WH 283 x WH 280 and NP 846 x WH 291) were subjected to individual plant selections based on visual appearance for yield potential, No. of tillers per plant, grain number per spike, 1000-grain weight, grain yield per plant, and harvest index. All the selection criteria were found equal in influencing the average grain yield of F₃ progenies. The effect of selection in F₂ generation was not reflected in F₃. Number of tillers per plant and grains per spike showed high correlation with grain yield per plant. Visual selections based on general plant vigour, number of tillers per plant and spike length was found to be effective for improving grain yield and its component traits. The selection based on harvest index produced considerably low proportion of high yielding lines as compared to other selection criteria.