1National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource Regional Station, Phagli, Shimla-l7l 004 (Himachal Pradesh) [Email: yogi8372@indiatimes.com].
2Agriculture Research Station, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Durgapura, Jaipur-302 015 (Rajasthan), India.
3Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Rajasthan Agricultural University, SKN College of Agriculture, Johner, Jaipur-303 329 (Rajasthan).
Combining ability analysis in six-rowed barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) involving 10 diverse parents and their 45 F1's and F2's progenies indicated significant differences among the parents for gca and crosses for sca for all the characters studied. The gca and sca components of variance were significant for all the traits. The gca:sca ratio showed that among the two types of genetic effects, the non-additive gene effects were more important in comparison to additive gene effects in controlling the inheritance of the characters under study. Among the parents RD 2052, RD 2503 and BL 2 were the best general combiners for grain yield and average to high combiners for other important traits. The best specific crosses for grain yield were BL 2 x ISBYT 17, RD 2503 x RD 2585, BL 2 x ISBYT 4, RD 2052 x BL 2, RD 2508 x ISBYT 4, RD 2053 x RD 2552, RD 2035 x RD 2052 and RD 2035 x BL 2 in both F1 and F2 generations. To ensure further increase in grain yield, combinations of desirable yield components is advocated. The exploitation of additive and non-additive gene actions through bi-parental mating and/or diallel selective mating systems are suggested for tangible advancement of grain yield in barley.
Barley, Variety, Gene Effects, Heterosis, Yield Components
