ADVANCED WINTER WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) LINES REVEALED MORPHOLOGICAL TRAIT DIVERSITY AND RESISTANCE AGAINST YELLOW RUST

Abstract

Wheat is important crop with two major categories as winter and spring wheat. Winter wheat was first time introduced in Rawalakot to check the adaptability and suitability hence winter wheat varieties had never been tested in the hilly areas of Azad Kashmir. For this purpose 83 genotypes of wheat were used including six winter wheat check varieties and Pakistan-2013 as local check and intercropping of universal susceptible as spreader. Yellow rust data was taken by using Modified Cobb’s scale to assess the disease severity and presence of resistance. Four winter wheat advanced lines 141137, 170915, 170196 and 170917 were found resistant. Analyses of variance have shown significant differences for all parameters apart from spike length, number of spikelets per spike and 1000-grain weight. Principal component analysis revealed 85.43% variability. The cluster analysis divided the genotypes in 5 clusters on the basis of genetic similarity and distance. Fourteen advanced lines were found more diverse and could be utilized in further breeding providing an opportunity for winter wheat to be adopted in this region. And among 14, four resistant genotypes can be used as source of yellow rust resistance in winter wheat and spring wheat breading.