Inheritance of grain yield and tillers per plant in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Inheritance of grain yield and tillers per plant in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was studied from twelve generations viz., both parents, F₁, F₂, first backcross generations (BC₁ arid BC₂), second backcross generations (BC₁₁, BC₁₂, BC₂₁ and BC₂₂) along with BC₁₅ and BC₂₅ derived by selfing of BC₁ and BC₂ populations of two crosses involving four diverse cultivars. Since the studies have been based on trigenic model, therefore, the 10-parameter modal was considered more adequate to explain the results however, significant X² values indicated even higher order interactions. In cross UP 301 x HD 2009, dominance and epistatic effects were found predominant for both the traits while in the cross RS-31-1 x RAJ 1482 only epistatic effects were observed to be more important-for these traits. To utilize non-fixable gene effects (non-additive) which were higher in magnitude than fixable (additive), breeding methods involving reciprocal recurrent selection or biparental mating are suggested for further improvement in grain yield and tillers per plant in wheat.