Comparative Assessment of Advanced and Chinese Hybrid Lines of Wheat Under the Agro-Ecological Context of Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

The rate at which the world's population is expanding necessitates an annual increase in food production in order to feed the expanding population. We must work hard and carefully to find improved genotypes of wheat and distribute them to growers for widespread cultivation in order to increase wheat production per unit area. As a result, during the Rabi season of 2021–2022, a field experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Research Farm, The University of Agriculture Peshawar. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Row-Row spacing was kept at 30 cm. The experimental field was twice ploughed with a disc harrow and rotavator, reaching a depth of 30 cm each time. Sowing was carried out at a seed rate of 100 kg ha^-1. Irrigation was done as needed for the crop, a starter dose of fertilizer was applied to the field, and all other necessary agronomic measures were done. Thirty-five distinct wheat lines were examined for desired features in this experiment, with twenty-two being advanced lines, nine being Chinese hybrid lines, and four being local check types. The evaluation was conducted employing eleven parameters, all of which were strongly influenced by different wheat lines. After an examination of the results, it was determined that the most desirable wheat line among the advanced lines in terms of biological and grain yield were AL-32 and AL-60 (8049 and 3610 kg ha^-1, respectively), while the best performing line among Chinese hybrid lines in terms of biological and grain yield was 15-CA73 (9094 and 3777 kg ha^-1, respectively), while the Khaista variety among local check varieties produced the highest biological and grain yield (5766 and 2277 kg kg ha^-1, respectively). The Chinese hybrid line 15-CA73, on the other hand, had the highest biological and grain yield output of all the examined lines (9094 and 3777 kg ha^-1). Since our main focus was biological and grain yield among all the evaluated criteria, Chinese hybrid line 15-CA73 is recommended for the agro-ecological conditions of Peshawar based on the analysis of the data.