Assessing the phenotypic variation, heritability and genetic advance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) candidate lines grown under rainfed semi-arid region of Algeria.

The genetic improvement of any breeding population largely depends upon the magnitude of genetic variability present. This study was carried out to estimate parameters of the genetic variation among 13 quantitative traits of bread wheat evaluated at INRAA-Setif institute (Algeria) during the 2020--2021 crop season in a rainfed environment. 34 genotypes including four control checks were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Genotypes showed significant variations for almost all the studied traits. Proline content, spikes weight, and grain yield exhibited a high genotypic coefficient of variation along with moderate to high heritability coupled with a high genetic gain, suggesting the implication of additive gene action. The number of spikes, spikes weight, and thousand kernel weight were significantly and positively correlated with grain yield at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. Path analysis results showed that spikes weight is an important route through which most of the measured traits influenced indirectly grain yield. Lines L1, L20, L28, L16, and L18 exhibited a sizeable grain yield advantage, which suggests they are potential candidates for future release and could be incorporated into the wheat breeding programs as parents to improve yield in the rainfed environments of Algeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]