The Population Vigors of Diallel F4 Offsprings of Six Bread Wheat Genotypes for Grain Yield under Irrigated and Rain-Fed Conditions

Grain yield estimate from early segregating populations is an interesting feature of today’s wheat breeding programs, and F1 populations are generally recommended as the most suitable population by researchers. In the present study, we evaluated the population vigor of diallel F4 offsprings of six bread wheat genotypes (Sultan, Bezostaya, Suzen, Harmankaya, Altay and Gerek) under irrigated (IR) and rain-fed conditions (RF). The experiment as two sets under IR and RF were established in the field of Anatolian Agricultural Research Institute, Eskisehir. The mean of grain yield (5468 kg ha-1) of F4 populations in RF and IR had been lower than the mean of genotypes (5654 kg ha-1). The mean of grain yield of genotypes (7062 kg ha-1) under IR was higher than F4 populations (6703 kg ha-1), while genotypes and F4 populations were nearly similar under RF (4246 kg ha-1 and 4234 kg ha-1, respectively). The mid-variety population vigor for grain yield varied from -6.70% (Hrm/Grk) to 8.77% (Bez/Grk) under RF, and from -22.58% (Sltn/Alty) to 10.87% (Bez/Suzen) under IR. There was not positive significance population vigor in F4s. According to results under RF and IR, F4 populations are observed as the most suitable populations for realistically estimation of grain yield performance of populations. Keywords: Wheat; Population vigor; Grain yield; F4 offspring