Genetic Parameters and Selection Strategies to Identify Climate Smart Wheat

The nature and magnitude of genetic parameters like components of genetic variance (additive, dominance and epistatic), coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance may vary from character to character for the same population, population to population for the same character and environment to environment for the same population and same character. An abiotic stress may be the major cause of such variations. The magnitude of such variation may be relatively much more if there is simultaneous occurrence of two or more abiotic stresses such as drought, salt and heat stress coupled with high seasonal and interannual variability of the environment. High temperature affects wheat crop yield by affecting in different ways including poor germination, reduced photosynthesis, increased leaf senescence and decreased pollen viability, which leads to production of reduced number of effective tillers, number of spikelets per spike, less grains per ear and smaller grain size and consequently, reduction in overall productivity.