GENETIC VARIABILITY AND ASSOCIATIONS AMONG YIELD, YIELD COMPONENTS AND QUALITY TRAITS IN ADVANCED BREAD WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) GENOTYPES AT SINANA, SOUTH EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract:

Information on the extent of genetic variation and associations among characters is important to design breeding strategies and to develop varieties for the targeted area of production. Therefore, this research was conducted at Sinana Agriculture Research Centre testing site and at Robe on farm, south eastern Ethiopia, with the objectives of evaluating advanced bread wheat genotypes for yield, yield related and quality traits, to assess associations among yield, yield components and quality traits, and to determine the direct and indirect effects of yield related traits on yield. The experiment was conducted in 2016 cropping season using 21 promising lines and 4 released varieties in triple lattice design. Data were collected for 9 agronomic and 13 grain quality characters. Pooled analysis of data showed that there was significant (P