Combining Ability Analysis For Yield and Its Contributing Characters in Breadwheat

Combining ability for grain yield and its components was studied in a set of diallel crosses involving eight cultivars of breadwheat (Triticium aestivum L. em Thell.). The magnitude of additive genetic variance was comparatively higher than nonadditive variance for all the characters studied. in general, per se performance of the parent is closely related with the general combining ability effect- Most of the crosses with high specific combining ability effects had at least one good general combiner parent. The crosses, viz., Kalyan Sona × S 331 and Arjun × HD 2021, involving diverse parents for number of grains per spike, 100-grain weight and grain weight/plant could possibly be utilised for further selection of high yielding progenies in this crop.