A comparison of different stability models in wheat.

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Genetics
• Plant Breeding

Background:

• Genotype-environment interactions (GEI) are crucial for understanding crop performance.
• Evaluating wheat varieties across diverse environments is essential for identifying stable and high-yielding genotypes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess genotype-environment interactions in eight wheat varieties using multiple statistical models.
• To compare the effectiveness of different models in predicting wheat responsiveness and stability.
• To identify the most stable wheat varieties for cultivation.

Main Methods:

• Testing eight wheat varieties (S-308, WG-377, K-227, PV-18, HD-1941, HD-1949, C-306, C-281) across 24 environments over two years.
• Applying statistical models including Eberhart and Russell (1966), Perkins and Jinks (1968a), and Freeman and Perkins (1971) to analyze GEI.
• Calculating environmental correlations and ecovalence (Wricke, 1962) for each variety.

Main Results:

• Eberhart and Russell's and Perkins and Jinks' models yielded similar results for responsiveness (b) and stability.
• Freeman and Perkins' model also showed similar patterns for responsiveness (b) compared to the other two models.
• High environmental correlations (r) correlated with high responsiveness (b-values), and ecovalence showed similarity with Freeman and Perkins' model for stability assessment.

Conclusions:

• All tested models could effectively identify stable wheat varieties.
• Environmental correlation (r) and ecovalence are recommended for predicting responsiveness and stability, respectively, due to computational efficiency.
• Understanding GEI is vital for developing robust wheat breeding programs.