BREEDING FOR YIELD AND QUALITY IN DURUM-WHEAT (REPRINTED FROM WHEAT -PROSPECTS FOR GLOBAL IMPROVEMENT, 1998)

Three populations of an intervarietal durum wheat cross IWP5308/PDW208 , F-5, F5BIP1 (population derived after intermating in F-2) and F5BIP2 (population derived after intermating in BIPF1), were evaluated under three different agronomic environments for mean performance and stabi lity of genotypes for grain yield, yield components and protein conten t. Though the biparental progenies indicated a higher mean performance , they did not differ significantly from progenies of the pedigree met hod for almost all characters. The biparental progenies, however, prod uced a higher number of stable genotypes for grain yield per plant, gr ains per ear and protein content. The F-5 population had a higher numb er of stable genotypes for 1000 grain weight and number of tillers per plant. The BIP progenies also had a higher number of genotypes with a bove average mean performance, and many were significantly higher than the checks WH896 and WH542, compared with F-5 progenies. Hence, in sp ite of high G x E interactions, the use of cycles of biparental mating and selection of top yielding lines on the basis of yield components can enable selection of stable genotypes with high protein content. Nu mber of tillers per plant and 1000 grain weight were the yield compone nt characters which made maximum contribution to phenotypic stability of the genotypes.