Combining Ability in Barley

An 8 × 8 diallel analysis of combining ability for five yield and its component characters in barley was conducted with the aim to obtain information on the genetic architecture of the population and also to isolate best parent for hybridization. Though the estimates of both the combining ability (General and Specific) variances were significant for all the five character studied, the magnitude of the general combining ability variances were 1 to 3.3 times higher than the specific combining ability variances, except for number of tillers per plant indicating thereby the importance of both additive and non-additive genetic variances. The per se performance of the parents was not usually associated with their general combining ability effects. BHD 33 was the good general combiner for yield ear length and 1000-grain weight while NP 13 was for number of grains per ear and 1000-grain weight The best combiner for number of tillers per plant was NP 113. The cross EB 3 × BHD 33 was best specific combination for yield The best varieties of the region were not the best combiners thus suggesting that it may not always be desirable to reserve a place for local varieties in hybridization programme unless they are found to be better combiners