Genetic analysis for earliness, plant height and kernel weight in two breadwheat crosses under normal and saline sodic soils

A set of six populations, viz. both parents, F₁, F₂, BC₁ and BC₂, derived from the crosses Kharchia 65 X Raj 3077 and Kharchia 65 X Lok 1 of bread wheat was evaluated under normal and saline sodie soils to estimate the type of gene effects for days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, and 100-kernel weight. In general, all these traits were predominantly governed by additive gene effects in both the crosses under normal and stress environments, though the nonadditive gene effects were also important in some of the combinations. Hence intermating in early generations followed by selection could be successfully adopted for improvement of the traits studied.