Agro-morphological analysis of yield and yield attributing traits of wheat under heat stress condition
Pragyan Bhattarai
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9687-4479
Prashant Gyanwali
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6428-491X
Netra Prasad Pokharel
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9237-3992
Parbin Bashyal
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2929-0868
Rasmita Mainali
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7150-5577
Renuka Khanal
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20448/aesr.v11i1.5486
Keywords: Correlation, Heat-stress, Path-coefficient analysis, Plant breeding, Selection, Wheat parameters.
Abstract
Wheat is the most important cereal crop worldwide and ranks third in Nepal. Improvements in wheat yield can be done effectively by selection for yield attributing traits. In this experiment, twenty wheat genotypes were evaluated in the terai region of Nepal at Paklihawa, Rupandehi in Alpha lattice design under heat stress conditions. The characters were evaluated to find their correlation and direct and indirect effects on yield. Positive significant correlation of grain yield with No. of spikes m-2 (0.405) and harvest index (0.647) were found whereas Spike weight (-0.322) showed a significant negative correlation with grain yield. Similarly, Path analysis showed that the Harvest index (0.5511) and No. of spikelets per spike (0.3365) had a high direct effect, whereas Thousand kernel weight, Spike m-2, and Plant height showed a lower positive direct effect on grain yield. Ten spikes weight, spike length, and No. of grains per spike showed low negative direct effects. The conclusions drawn from this analysis can be useful for breeding programs under heat stress by providing information on which characteristics significantly affect the yield. However, multi-locations and multi-year trials need to be done for further verifications on the selection of such traits for improving yield.