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Wheat (Aestivum sativum L.) cultivated on diverse climatic conditions over the nations. The knowledge of genetic parameters viz., heritability and genetic advance among characters under selection is very useful for predicting genetic progress in breeding programme and developing efficient breeding strategies. The mean sum of squares due to genotypes were highly significant for plant height, number of earheads per plant, number of grains per earhead, days to maturity and grain yield (kg/ha) whereas biological yield per plot (g) and harvest index (%) showed non-significant differences. GCV accounted for a major portion of PCV for all the characters studied. The perusal of data revealed highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation for number of earheads per plant followed by number of grains per earhead, grain yield per plot (g), days to maturity, plant height, harvest index (%) and biological yield. In the present study heritability, was high (greater than 80%) for all studied characters except for biological yield and harvest index [showed moderate heritability (<40%)]. The moderate genetic advance(>10% but <20%) was observed for plant height, number of seeds per earhead, days to maturity and seed yield indicated that these characters are governed by non-additive genes and heterosis breeding for improvement of these characters may be useful. The characters namely; plant height, number of earheads per plant, number of seeds per earhead, days to maturity and grain yield per plot (g) showed high heritability accompanied with moderate genetic advance indicated the non-additive type of gene action.

Keywords: Wheat, genetic variability, GCV, PCV, heritability, genetic advance, plant height (cm), earheads per plant, days to maturity, grain yield, harvest index (%).