the Symposium on Wheats for More Tropical Environments - cimmyt

110average lOOO-grain weight was 42grams; in late October sowings. it was40 grams and. in early Novembersowings. 34 grams.After considering phenologicalcharacters such as flowering andmaturity. effective tillers. grainproduction per ear. yield ability anddisease resistance. varieties such asHIlOll. HIlOI2. Raj 1771, Raj 1777.Ju H72-4 and VL421 have beenidentified as heat tolerant. HI 1011 andHIlOl2 compared favorably with Hindi62. which was identified in 1973 and iscurrently <strong>the</strong> best cultivar. All newvarieties are resistant to <strong>the</strong> rusts andleaf blight. while Hindi 62 suffersheavily. Although Hindi 62 producesmore ear-bearing tillers. grainproduction per ear and kernel weightare low. The Indore selections 1011.developed from <strong>the</strong> cross E4870CC303M5292)666-5 x Perico. and 1012. from<strong>the</strong> spring x winter cross NIOB-PI4­101-65-39/Kal-Bb. show promise. Ingeneral. productivity is lower in moretropical areas like Niphad. Dharwar andHyderabad. intermediate in <strong>the</strong> centralregion and high in <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn belt.Generally. <strong>the</strong>re is no moisture stress in<strong>the</strong> north.Utilization ofWinter :It Spring CrossesThe prolific root system of winterwheats is being utilized in breeding.Crosses with <strong>the</strong> University ofNebraska's high protein lines haveyielded some promising material. Twolines from <strong>the</strong> cross NP839 x VI027compare favorably with SUjata. Studieson FIS and parents have shown thatMukta. Raj 1777 and NI5439 exhibit a22 to 79% increase in grain productionand a 20 to 58% increase in productivetillers. Among winter wheats. Favorit.Maldova. Roussalka and Sava havegiven better combinations. SUjata andC306 frequently produce necrotichybrids and. <strong>the</strong>refore. cannot beexploited in direct crosses. Recently.some promising lines have beenidentified from <strong>the</strong> CIMMYT 1982-83Drought Screening Nursery. Fourpromising lines are from spring xwinter crosses Klim x D6301-Nai601Kalyansona-BluebirdCentry 19).TJB845-Misc. Hart 599 xMHM/Sapsucker"S" (entry 25) andPMF-LFN x Chiroca"S"Centry 28) and(Pi"S"-MAZOE x CN067/LFN)Chiroca"S"(entry 27). The spring wheatcrosses. Veery"S"Centries 48 and 50).Kalyanson-Bluebird x Moncho"S"Centry66). Neelkant"S"Centry 67). K4500.2­Bluejay"S"Centry 70). JUP-Emu"S" xGrajo"S" =Flycatcher"S"Centry 77) andBuckbuck"S",Bluejay"S"(entries 98and 99) have given better stands andhigher yields than <strong>the</strong> check varietiesUres and Sujata under completedryland (conserved moisture)conditions.Future StrategyApart from <strong>the</strong> ability to establish wellunder stress conditions. <strong>the</strong> ability toremain in <strong>the</strong> vegetative phase for alonger duration. even thoughtemperatures are high. is <strong>the</strong> mostdesired character for wheat for centralIndia. These traits have been observedin some of <strong>the</strong> local and improvedcultivars. and must be combined withbetter disease resistance. since newvirulences have appeared. In-depthstudies on crown depth. root Vigor andhigher grain production are envisioned.Plans are being made to improve <strong>the</strong>bread wheats Pissi. a soft white type.Hy65. Hindi 62 and NI5439. and <strong>the</strong>durums A206. Kathia 25. A9-30-1 andMeghdoot. The exploitation of winterwheats seems promising. and selectionsfrom crosses with local improved typesis in progress.