Potentialities of heterosis breeding in wheat

Summary Heterosis for yield and yield components were studied in F₁, F₂ and F₃ generations in ten crosses of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., under normal spacing. Eighty and 60% F₁ hybrids exceeded the high parent and standard variety to the extent of 44.3 and 36.4 per cent. respectively. The two best crosses excelled the high parent and the standard variety by a significant margin. The result showed that seed of advanced generations cannot be used for commercial wheat production, Heterosis in yield seems to be reflected through heterosis in spike number and 1000-kernel weight. In general it was found that the greater the genetic difference of the parents with a high yield capacity the better are their hybrids.