Estimation of variability for yield parameters in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in Gangetic West Bengal

Thirty eight genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) collected from DWR, Karnal, Haryana were evaluated in Randomized Block Design with three replications at the Teaching Farm of the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya in 2008-09 crop season. Observations for eighteen different yield contributing characters viz., plant height, days to heading, flowering, maturity, tiller number per plant, length of spike, number of spikes per plant, and per meter square, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike, chlorophyll-a, b and total chlorophyll content, thousand grain weight, grain protein content, yield per plant and grain weight per meter square were recorded. The genotypes exhibited significant variation for all the characters studied. The estimate of PCV in all the traits studied were greater than those of the GCV, The close proximity between PCV and GCV values for most of the characters indicated less influence of environment on the expression of the characters under study. Considering heritability, most of the characters showed high values. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance (in % of mean) were recorded for the grain weight per spike, per plant and per meter square, number of grains per spike, thousand grain weight and the grain protein content indicating the characters to be under additive genetic control and also scope of improvement through direct selection.