Journal of Cereal Research Volume 14 (2): 139-149 Research Article Homepage: http://epubs.icar.org.in/ejournal/index.php/JWR Heterotic capability of fve crosses for quantitative traits in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with inbreeding depression studies using generation mean analysis Darshika Busa 2 , Ashwin Pansuriya 1* , Deep Vekaria 1 , Chandrakant Singh 1 , G. U. Kulkarni 2 and Jagdish Patel 3 1 Wheat Research Station, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh -362001 2 Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh -362001 3 Department of Seed Science and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh -362001 Article history: Received: 04 June, 2022 Revised: 07 Aug., 2022 Accepted: 23 Aug., 2022 Citation: Busa D, A Pansuriya, DM Vekaria, C Singh, GU Kulkarni and JB Patel. 2022. Heterotic capability of five crosses for quantitative traits in bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) with inbreeding depression studies using generation mean analysis. Journal of Cereal Research 14 (2): 139-149. http://doi. org/10.25174/2582-2675/2022/124049 *Corresponding author: E-mail: agpansuriya@jau.in © Society for Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research Abstract Six generations, namely P 1 , P 2 , F 1 , F 2 , BC 1 and BC 2 of fve crosses of bread wheat viz., AKAW 4842 x Raj 4238, AKAW 4924 x RW 5, DBW 39 x MP 3353, GW 11 x DWAP 1540 and GW 455 x UP 2968 were developed to estimate the extent of heterosis and inbreeding depression and underlying genetic causes for different characters in bread wheat. The analysis of variance between families (crosses) revealed that the mean square due to crosses were highly signifcant for all the characters. The analysis of variance among progenies (generations) within each family (cross) indicated signifcant differences among six basic generation means for all the characters studied in all the fve crosses. In the present study all the crosses depicted signifcant and positive mid parent heterosis and heterobeltiosis for grain yield per plant and almost all the component traits. Among which crosses AKAW 4842 x Raj 4238, AKAW 4924 x RW 5, GW 11 x DWAP 1540 and GW 455 x UP 2968 depicted negative inbreeding as well as signifcant and positive mid parent heterosis and heterobeltiosis for grain yield per plant therefore, intermating in F 2 generation may be advantageous for improving particular character for above mentioned crosses. Generally, the character like grain yield per plant governed by fxable additive gene effect can be improved through pedigree selection method. Keywords: Bread wheat, heterosis, inbreeding depression, generation mean analysis 1. Introduction Wheat (Triticum sp.) is usually accorded a premier place among cereals because of the vast acreage devoted to its cultivation, its high nutritive value and its association with some of the earliest and most important civilizations of the world. Triticum aestivum is most extensively grown crop among cereals in the world, grown on more than 17% of the cultivable land and consumed by nearly 40% of the global population. Wheat fulfls 20% of the total food calories and 21% protein in human diet (Bhutto et al., 2016). India, a major contributor to the world wheat production after China witnessed a tremendous increase in production during the last four decades. Wheat is a unique gift from nature to main kind as it can be moulded into innumerable products like chapattis, breads, cakes, biscuits, pasta and many hot and ready-to- eat breakfast foods. Wheat grain contains crude protein (13.3 %), fat (2.0 %), minerals (1.7 %), fbre (2.3%), other carbohydrates (68.7 %) and water (12 %) (Das, 2008). The uniqueness of wheat in contrast to other cereals is that wheat contains gluten protein, which enables leavened 139