Rajendra Prasad Yadav*(1) Madhav Prasad Pandey(2) Bishnu Raj Ojha(2) Dhruba Bahadur Thapa(3) Jiban Shrestha(3) and Krishna Hari Ghimire(4)
(1). National Wheat Research Program, Bharahawa, Lumbini, Rupandehi, Nepal.
(2). Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
(3). Agriculture Botany Division, NARC, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal
(4). National Agriculture Genetic Resources Centre, NARC, Khumaltar, Nepal
(*Corresponding author: Rajendra Prasad Yadav. E-Mail: rajendrapyadav15@gmail.com).
Received: 02/05/2018 Accepted: 01/10/2018
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at Bhairahawa, Rupandehi, Nepal during November to April, 2015/2016 with the objective of identifying high yielding, zinc and iron rich bio-fortified spring wheat genotypes. A total of 27 wheat genotypes selected from 5th Harvest Plus Yield Trial (HPYT), were evaluated along with three check genotypes (Tilottama, BAJ#1 and KACHU#1) using Alpha Lattice design with three replications. Analysis of variance showed significant (P≤0.05) differences among the genotypes for days to maturity, plant height, spike length, number of grains/spike, 1000-kernels weight, grain yield and grain zinc and iron content. The wheat genotype namely Neloki/3/ IWA8600211//2*PBW343*2/Kukuna produced the highest grain yield (3.953 kg/ha) followed by Francolin#1/3/ Croc_1/Ae. squarrosa (210)//2*PBW343*2/Kukuna (3.870 kg/ha) and C80.1/3*Batavia//2*WBLL1/3/Attila/3*BCN*2//Bav92/4/WBLL1*2/Kuruku/5/IWA8600211//2*PBW343*2/Kukuna (3.839 kg/ha). The grain Fe content ranged from 35.33 to 49.03 ppm whereas grain Zn ranged from 22.76 to 34.03 ppm among the evaluated genotypes. The highest grain Zn content was found in Croc_1/Ae.squarrosa(210)//Inqalab91*2/Kukuna/3/PBW343*2/Kukuna (34.03 ppm), whereas the highest grain Fe content was recorded in TRCH/Srtu//Kachu/5/Toba97/Pastor/3/T.dicocconPI94624/Ae.squarrosa(409)//BCN/4/BL1496/Milan//PI610750 (49.03 ppm). Based on the high grain yield and the grain Zn and Fe content, the wheat genotype namely Neloki/3/ IWA8600211//2*PBW343*2/Kukuna was identified a promising genotype and can be further evaluated and promoted as a candidate variety. A positive correlation (r=0.237) was observed between grain Fe and Zn content. The studied wheat genotypes could be valuable resources for the development of Zn and Fe enriched wheat varieties to address the malnutrition problem in Nepal.
Keywords: Bio-fortified wheat, Grain yield, Iron content, Zinc content.
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