Wheat Yield Trials Research Articles

Estimation of Genetic Parameters in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes Evaluated Under High Temperature Yield Trial in Ethiopia

The study was carried out to estimate genetic parameters of 49 bread wheat genotypes and standard check evaluated at Kulumsa and Melkasa using alpha lattice design with two replications. The analysis of variance result showed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all traits (P< 0.001), implying the presence of considerable genetic variability for these traits. Out of 50 genotypes, four genotypes such as EBW2113062, EBW2113039, EBW2113037 and EBW2113056 were the top yielding genotypes across the locations. Furthermore, 30 of the 50 genotypes gave grain yield above grand mean whereas 14 genotypes had grain yield above the check, Dursa(1295.05kg/ha). In the other word, about 60% of genotypes were with mean grain yield above the overall mean and 30% of them provided mean grain yield above the check, Dursa, variety. High and moderate heritability estimates were found for most of traits showing that the variation observed was mainly under genetic control. The highest PCV and GCV values were observed for grain yield at both locations indicating better opportunity for improvement in this trait via selection. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was generally higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all characters at both locations. The difference between PCV and GCV was large in TKW followed by PHT and Grain yield indicating that these traits are influenced by the environment. However, differences between them were small for most of the traits indicating low effect of environment on the expression of characters at both locations. The genotypic correlations between grain yield with thousand kernel weights and hectoliter weight were highly significant showing their important contribution to grain yield. Therefore, the identified genotypes with better performance could be utilized in advanced bread wheat yield trial targeted for high temperature condition in the country.

Development of a new hexaploid spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety “NIFA NIJAT-23” for commercial cultivation in irrigated areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Sustainable wheat farming requires an ongoing process of variety development, release, and quality seed production of new high yielding and disease resistant varieties. Farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are currently cultivating several wheat cultivars, including NIFA AMAN-17, NIFA AWAZ-19, PIRSABAK-21, ZARGHUN-21, PIRSABAK-19, GULZAR-19, KHAISTA-17, PIRSABAK-15, INSAF-15, KP-15 and LALMA-13 under both irrigated and rainfed circumstances. The frequent changes in disease virulence, particularly yellow rust and leaf rust observed frequently over the last three years in KP, have forced breeders to develop new resistant varieties in order to increase productivity. The new hexaploid spring wheat variety NIFA NIJAT-23 (CTHN-162056) developed at NIFA has demonstrated resistance to yellow rust during testing in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wheat Yield Trials (KPWYT) at 13 distinct locations in 2019-20, and this variety with a grain yield of 3337 kg ha-1 has been placed at the third position among 24 test entries. Under normal planting conditions in 2020-21, the NUWYT (National Uniform Wheat Yield Trial) pooled analysis revealed that CTHN-162056 secured the 1st position and provided the greatest mean grain yield of 4701 kg ha-1 across all the candidate lines throughout Pakistan at 31 locations. According to the data reported by the Crop Diseases Research Institute (CDRI), Department of Plant and Environmental Protection, National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad, it has demonstrated highly desirable relative resistance index (RRI) for two consecutive years (2020-21 & 2021-22). The Provincial Seed Council (PSC), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa approved CTHN-162056 and registered as a potential variety “NIFA NIJAT-23”.

Winter Wheat Historic Trends and Yield Gaps in the Wheat State

AbstractWheat is the most widely grown grain crop in the world, and the United States is ranked as the fourth major wheat producer after China, India, and Russia. Kansas is the top winter wheat‐producing state in the United States and, as such, is nicknamed “The Wheat State.” A significant yield gap has existed in Kansas between potential winter wheat yields and the actual farm level average yield. Due to current conflict in the major wheat‐growing region of Ukraine and Russia and recent droughts, record decline in world wheat stocks was expected. To further understand winter wheat’s contribution to the economy, production trends, and relationship with climate variability, data available in the state of Kansas through annual winter wheat yield trials and USDA reports were used to study winter wheat historic trends and relations. Earn 0.5 CEUs in Crop Management by taking the quiz for the article at https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning‐Center/Courses.

ANALYZING WHEAT VARIETY NAWAB-21 FOR AGRONOMIC, PATHOLOGICAL AND ZINC BIOFORTIFICATION ATTRIBUTES UNDER MULTILOCATIONAL TRIALS

Wheat variety Nawab-21 is one of the elite genotypes of CIMMYT germplasm Harvest plus yield trial (7-HPYT, 2016-17) with high zinc contents and more yield potential as compared to earlier evolved biofortified and non-biofortified wheat varieties. The variety was initially screened out at the Regional Agricultural Research Institute, Bahawalpur, Pakistan in station yield trials, where it gave 5537 kg ha-1grain yield which was 11% higher than the check varieties. In multi-locational yield trials, the variety’s yield potential was recorded as 7007 kg ha-1 in Alipur region. The variety also came-up when tested in National Wheat Disease Screening Nursery’s (NWDSN) for disease (rusts) resistance in both years of national uniform wheat yield trials (NUWYT 2019-20 and 2020-21). Nawab-21 is medium in maturity with head emerging from the flag leaf between 90-95 days and matures within 140-145 days.

Net productivity of photosynthesis of bread wheat lines introduced from CIMMYT

The improvement of wheat through the hybridization of existing highly productive genotypes with genotypes resistant to abiotic and biotic factors, as well as the use of wild relatives of wheat in hybridization, has great potential. This contributes to increasing the climate resilience of wheat and its stable productivity. The 29thSAWYT (Semi-Arid Wheat Yield Trials) nursery introduced from CIMMYT includes spring bread wheat lines developed through complex hybridization. Wheat lines have a higher growth rate and net productivity of photosynthesis than the local variety of Gobustan. Keywords: Wheat, 29thSAWYT, crop growth rate, dry mass, leaf area, net productivity of photosynthesis

Effects of heat exposure from late sowing on agronomic traits and the technological quality of hexaploid wheat

Heat stress reduces wheat grain yield and affects quality traits relevant to trading and end use. In this study, 98 landraces and 152 elite hexaploid wheat varieties and breeding lines were trialled at two irrigated field sites in southern NSW to better understand heat stress responses and identify promising genotypes for heat tolerance breeding. Potential heat tolerance was defined using performance in heat-exposed late-sown (LS) plots relative to normal-sown (NS) plots, using a regression approach to calculate response indices uncorrelated with awn emergence time and performance per se in NS. The best individual responders for grain yield included genotypes from both Australia and Mexico. On average, lines selected in CIMMYT's High Temperature Wheat Yield Trials (HTWYT) performed well for yield per se in NS as well as for yield response to LS. CIMMYT lines previously selected for large grains under heat stress conditions performed well for grain size in NS and for LS responses of grain size and test weight. Dough peak resistance and time to peak resistance in a mixograph were increased by LS and these traits were positively correlated with grain protein and the occurrence of the Glu-D1d high molecular weight glutenin locus allele, respectively.

Enhanced radiation use efficiency and grain filling rate as the main drivers of grain yield genetic gains in the CIMMYT elite spring wheat yield trial

Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major staple food crop, providing a fifth of food calories and proteins to the world’s human population. Despite the impressive growth in global wheat production in recent decades, further increases in grain yield are required to meet future demands. Here we estimated genetic gain and genotype stability for grain yield (GY) and determined the trait associations that contributed uniquely or in combination to increased GY, through a retrospective analysis of top-performing genotypes selected from the elite spring wheat yield trial (ESWYT) evaluated internationally during a 14-year period (2003 to 2016). Fifty-six ESWYT genotypes and four checks were sown under optimally irrigated conditions in three phenotyping trials during three consecutive growing seasons (2018–2019 to 2020–2021) at Norman E. Borlaug Research Station, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. The mean GY rose from 6.75 (24th ESWYT) to 7.87 t ha−1 (37th ESWYT), representing a cumulative increase of 1.12 t ha−1. The annual genetic gain for GY was estimated at 0.96% (65 kg ha−1 year−1) accompanied by a positive trend in genotype stability over time. The GY progress was mainly associated with increases in biomass (BM), grain filling rate (GFR), total radiation use efficiency (RUE_total), grain weight per spike (GWS), and reduction in days to heading (DTH), which together explained 95.5% of the GY variation. Regression lines over the years showed significant increases of 0.015 kg m−2 year−1 (p < 0.01), 0.074 g m−2 year−1 (p < 0.05), and 0.017 g MJ−1 year−1 (p < 0.001) for BM, GFR, and RUE_total, respectively. Grain weight per spike exhibited a positive but no significant trend (0.014 g year−1, p = 0.07), whereas a negative tendency for DTH was observed (− 0.43 days year−1, p < 0.001). Analysis of the top ten highest-yielding genotypes revealed differential GY-associated trait contributions, demonstrating that improved GY can be attained through different mechanisms and indicating that no single trait criterion is adopted by CIMMYT breeders for developing new superior lines. We conclude that CIMMYT’s Bread Wheat Breeding Program has continued to deliver adapted and more productive wheat genotypes to National partners worldwide, mainly driven by enhancing RUE_total and GFR and that future yield increases could be achieved by intercrossing genetically diverse top performer genotypes.

Effects of post-flowering drought and supplemental irrigation on grain yield and agro-phenological traits in durum wheat

Water deficit and unbalanced distribution rainfall in the Mediterranean rainfed regions are major problems threatening agricultural sustainability, especially durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) production. This study aimed to investigate the effects of drought and supplemental irrigation in post-flowering stage on traits performance of durum wheat trials and to identify traits that significantly contribute to increase the grain yield of durum wheat under different water regimes and recommend new genotypes adapted to climate change. An eight-year field study was conducted from 2014 to 2022, consisting of 36 field experiments, 18 under rainfed and 18 under supplemental irrigation (two times irrigation in flowering and grain-filling stages) conditions through six experimental series of elite durum wheat yield trials each with same genotypes. In each experiment, grain yield, 1000-kernel weight (TKW), plant height (PLH), days to heading (DHE) and maturity (DMA) were recorded. Drought stress tolerance index (STI) and mean productivity (MP) were applied to differentiate high-performing and drought tolerant durum wheat genotypes in each experimental series. The combined analysis of variance for traits studied of each experimental series indicated that the year, water stress treatment, genotype and their interaction effects were significant. For grain yield, year was the main source of variation and had the highest impact on genotypes performance. The results indicated that the supplemental irrigation, depending on genetic materials, significantly increased grain yield (18.7%-45.8%), TKW (8.2%-12.9%), and PLH (1.1%-8.2%) compared with the rainfed condition across years. Supplemental irrigation exhibited for no significant effect on the increase of the maturity time (0.2%-2.2%) of genotypes tested compared with the rainfed condition. The results confirmed the systematic effects of post-flowering drought on yield, grain weight and plant stature of durum wheat. A positive and significant trend (R2=0.62; P<0.01) was observed between yield production in rainfed condition and cumulative rainfall, showing that in 62% of the cases higher rainfall resulted in higher performance. TKW and PLH significantly and positively correlated with mean yield in the both rainfed and irrigated conditions, suggesting the importance of these two traits in breeding programs to assist in developing high yielding genotypes under different water regime conditions. Evaluation of genotypes in terms of mean yield and stability performance using GGE biplot, resulted in identification of superior lines that outperformed the check cultivars. The STI and MP were desirable selection criteria for high yielding and drought tolerant genotypes, thus high yielding genotypes that are tolerant to drought would be expected to have good yield stability in stressful environments. The results highlight the significant effects of drought stress after flowering upon grain yield, and the significant contribution of 1000-kernel weight and plant height to increase grain yield under different water regimes, that could be utilized to aid breeding of high-performing and drought tolerant durum wheat genotypes under the future climate conditions.

Significance of yield sustainability to develop climate smart wheat (Triticum aestivum) in India

To ensure food security in India, not only the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity but yield sustainability is also crucial especially when the production environments are quite diverse. An experiment was conducted to examined multi-environment wheat yield trial data of popular wheat cultivars in two agro-climatically diverse regions i.e. north- western plains zone (NWPZ) and central zone (CZ) under timely-sown (TS) and late-sown (LS) conditions with an aim to differentiate yield and yield sustainability at the level of 4 production environment, 11 prominent locations and 7 crop years. Wheat productivity matched in both zones; yet the level of yield-sustainability was much less in warmer climate of CZ. Yield sustainability was poorest in late-sown wheat of CZ and the drop in sustainability index (SI) was realized in locations, years and genotypes. For grain yield; locations and location-year interaction mattered most in each production environments but the years were crucial only in NWPZ-TS. Results showed that yield sustainability of test sites can not be adjudged by its productivity alone. Location status was associated with the yield sustainability only in NWPZ. Substantial drop in sustainability could be noticed in some crop seasons of CZ but deviations in NWPZ were smaller. In test sites, the causative factors associated with yield-sustainability varied under different production environments. Genotype-year interaction was effective in each situation except CZ-LS where only the crop year variations were supreme. Variations in locations and genotypes mattered most in NWPZ-TS whereas the crop year deviations were impactful in NWPZ-LS and CZ-TS environments. Based on the results; prospect of improvisation and breeding strategy have been suggested to select suitable production sites and the genotypes.

Mega-environment investigation in durum wheat yield trials in Iran

Mega-environment investigation in durum wheat yield trials in Iran

Assessment of selected elite lines from CIMMYT’s semi-arid and collaborative wheat yield trials in advanced stage of testing under the agro climatic condition of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Assessment of selected elite lines from CIMMYT’s semi-arid and collaborative wheat yield trials in advanced stage of testing under the agro climatic condition of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

EXOTIC WHEAT GENOTYPES RESPONSE TO WATER-STRESS CONDITIONS

Drought is the most devastating abiotic stress which has significantly threatened global wheat production. The recent study was designed to evaluate the performance of eight exotic wheat lines through the Drought Spring Bread Wheat Yield Trial (DSBWYT), along with a local drought-tolerant check cultivar, Khirman, under water-stressed conditions based on agronomic and yield-related traits. The experiment was conducted during cropping season 2019–2020 in a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA), Tando Jam, Pakistan. The analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant difference among the genotypes for all studied traits. The genotype DSBWYT-8 possessed better agronomic traits and growth features like early growth vigor and early ground cover. On the other hand, the genotype DSBWYT-4 performed better in yield and yield-related traits like main spike yield, grains per spike, and 1000-grains weight. Both genotype revealed excellent plot grain yield and harvest index and were not significantly different from each other. The cluster analysis grouped all the genotypes into three clades. The drought-tolerant local check cultivar Khirman clustered with genotypes DSBWYT-2, DSBWYT-4, and DSBWYT-8 thus, this clade can be regarded as drought tolerant. The second cluster comprised of two genotypes, i.e., DSBWYT-1 and DSBWYT-5, which performed relatively low as compared to genotypes present in the drought-tolerant cluster, whereas the genotypes DSBWYT-3, DSBWYT-6, and DSBWYT-7 clustered together to represent low yielding genotypes under drought condition as compared with the check cultivar Khirman. Based on these results, the genotypes DSBWYT-2, DSBWYT-4, and DSBWYT-8 can be recommended as the drought-tolerant genotypes.

Visualising the pattern of long‐term genotype performance by leveraging a genomic prediction model

AbstractHistorical data from plant breeding programs provide valuable resources to study the response of genotypes to the changing environment (i.e. genotype‐by‐environment interaction). Such data have been used to evaluate the pattern of genotype performance across regions or locations, but its use to evaluate the long‐term pattern of genotype performance across environments (i.e. locations‐by‐years) has been hampered by the lack of common genotypes across years. This lack of common genotypes is due to the structure of the breeding program, especially for annual crops, where only a proportion of selected genotypes are tested in subsequent years. This has resulted in a sparse prediction of the performance of genotypes across years (i.e. a genotype‐by‐year table). A genomic prediction method that fitted both a relationship matrix among genotypes and a relationship matrix among environments (i.e. years) could overcome this limitation and produce a dense genotype‐by‐year table, thereby enabling some evaluation of long‐term genotype performance. In this paper, we applied the genomic prediction model to the yield data from CIMMYT's Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials (ESWYT) to visualise the pattern of genotype performance over 25 years.

English

‘Markaz-2019’ is a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar developed and released by the wheat breeding program at the Crop Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2019. The cultivar was approved by the Punjab Seed Council of Pakistan in its 51st meeting (19th September 2019) held at the Punjab Seed Corporation, Lahore, Pakistan. Markaz-2019 is of known pedigree “SOKOLL//FRTL/2*PIFED”, derived and selected from the 19th Semi-Arid Wheat Yield Trial (SAWYT) entry number (332) from CIMMYT during 2011–2012. Following evaluation of this candidate, ‘NR-449’ was used as candidate line for five growing seasons at NARC-Islamabad and in multi-location trials and then was officially named as Markaz-2019. Trials were conducted under rainfed conditions and grain yield and quality parameters such as grain color, size and 1000-grain weight were tested. This cultivar is a medium height wheat (107 cm) with semi-erect growth habit, stiff and hollow stem, medium to high grain volume weight in kilogram/ hectoliter (78.7 kg/hL), medium maturity (160 days), medium to high grain protein (151 g kg-1) and flour protein concentration (151 and 105 g kg-1). Markaz-2019 was released for its high yield, (ranging from 4500 kg ha-1 to 6050 kg ha-1), its improved resistance to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis var. tritici) and leaf rust (P. triticina) and tolerance to drought. Its grain yield was significantly higher than check cultivars, and therefore recommended for cultivation in rainfed areas of Pakistan. © 2022 Friends Science Publishers

GGE-BIPLOT Analysis of Durum Wheat Yield Trials

Durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) is a vital crop in the rain-fed areas of Turkey. In this study, the grain yield of twenty durum wheat genotypes (sixteen advanced lines with four checks) tested across 8 rain-fed environments during the 2008-2009 cropping season was evaluated using GGE (Genotype (G) Main Effect + Genotype by Environment Interaction (GEI)) Biplot Approach. Environment (E) captured most (83 %) of the grain yield (GY) variation, while the portions attributed to G and GEI were only 6 and 11 %, respectively. In addition, most of the testing Es were highly correlated. According to GGE-Biplot analysis, ‘Which won where’ pattern partitioned the testing Es into three mega-environments (ME): the first ME with six Es with G13 (the highest yielder) as the winning genotype; the second ME encompassed one environment (E1, Konya) with G4 (the lowest yielder) as the winning genotype, and the last ME represented by one location (E6, Altintas) with G10 (the higher yielder) as the winning genotype. GGE-Biplot analysis showed that although the Durum Wheat Yield Trials were conducted in many environments, outcomes alike can be obtained from one or two representatives of each ME. On the other hand, no correlation of these MEs with their geographic location was observed. In conclusion, the presence of cross-over GEI underscores that efforts should be given to identify specifically adapted genotypes rather than broadly adapted ones tested on multi-environment trials (METs).

Diversity Analysis Studies in 28th Semi Arid Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Yield Trial of CIMMYT

Diversity Analysis Studies in 28th Semi Arid Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Yield Trial of CIMMYT

Plant breeding increases spring wheat yield potential in Afghanistan

AbstractWheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an essential food security crop in Afghanistan. To determine the contribution of wheat breeding to increasing productivity, we analyzed data obtained from 192 trials conducted over 11 locations from 2002–2003 to 2015–2016. Using this data, we estimated annual genetic gains for grain yield, days to heading and plant height over the 14‐yr period. We used best linear unbiased estimates to measure genetic gains across CIMMYT Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials per se and for the top 5 and top 10% performing genotypes relative to checks. Mean realized genetic gain for grain yield was 115 kg ha–1 yr−1, whereas the top 10 genotypes achieved annual yield gains of 123 kg ha–1. The continually replaced local checks also contributed an annual genetic gain for yield of 107 kg ha–1. The associated adaptive traits days to heading and plant height varied in their response over time with the top 10 yielding genotypes having a 1.82 d annual reduction in heading date while plant height increased by 0.77 cm yr−1 for the same set of genotypes. Results show that continual breeding improvements confer yield gains, contributing to increasing Afghan wheat productivity. This has wider relevance for demonstrating the value of continued investment in public sector plant breeding supporting wheat production and food security in Central Asia.

Selection signatures in the CIMMYT International Elite Spring and Semi-arid Wheat Yield Trials.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) annually distributes advanced wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines to collaborators worldwide through the International Wheat Improvement Network. Lines are disseminated through international nurseries, including the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial (ESWYT) targeted to optimal (irrigated and high production) wheat production areas and the Semi-arid Wheat Yield Trial (SAWYT) targeted to low rainfall environments. A total of 2,184 wheat lines that formed the ESWYT and SAWYT since 1979 and 1992, respectively, were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing to explore trends of genetic diversity and selection footprints associated with continuous crop improvement and adaptation. Due to a small population size of each trial, adjacent year trials were pooled into subpopulations. Population structure was evaluated using discriminant analysis of principal components and fixation index. High levels of admixture within and across the ESWYT and SAWYT subpopulations were revealed, indicating that the entire genetic diversity in the overall CIMMYT germplasm pool is harnessed to target core traits to individual mega-environments. Genome wide scans of deviations of minor allele frequencies at each marker identified large linkage blocks in several chromosomes. The scans also revealed that 9.8 and 2.0% of the SNP markers could be associated to selection signatures over time and to environmental adaptation (significant deviations between ESWYT and SAWYT), respectively. Several known genes and previously identified haplotypes associated with grain yield in more recent CIMMYT elite germplasm did fall into genomic regions with directional selection.

Optimizing the setup of multienvironmental hybrid wheat yield trials for boosting the selection capability.

The accuracy of genomic prediction increases with increasing heritability, and thus the challenge of optimizing the design of multienvironment yield trials under a limited budget arises. With this in mind, we aimed to find the best of several options to sparsely distribute a fixed number of plots across different environments to increase the accuracy of hybrid performance prediction. We used a comprehensive published genomic and phenotypic data set of 1,604 winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) hybrids and compared several commonly used biometric models for phenotypic data analysis in a resampling study to identify the one that most accurately estimated the hybrid performance in different imbalanced trials. Our results showed that when using information about genotypic relationships, genotypic values were more strongly associated with the reference values than when this information was ignored. In addition, a balanced environmental sampling resulted in an adequate characterization of each environment and increased the accuracy for estimating the hybrid performance. One promising design involved dividing the genotypes into equally sized subgroups that were tested in a subset of environments, with the constraint that the subgroups overlapped with respect to the environments. This scenario appears to be particularly appropriate, as it provided both high accuracies in the estimates of genotypic values and had low variability resulting from the data sample used. Thus, we were able to clearly demonstrate the utility for optimizing the design of multienvironment hybrid wheat yield trials in times of genomic selection.

Target Population of Environments for Wheat Breeding in India: Definition, Prediction and Genetic Gains.

In this study, we defined the target population of environments (TPE) for wheat breeding in India, the largest wheat producer in South Asia, and estimated the correlated response to the selection and prediction ability of five selection environments (SEs) in Mexico. We also estimated grain yield (GY) gains in each TPE. Our analysis used meteorological, soil, and GY data from the international Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials (ESWYT) distributed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from 2001 to 2016. We identified three TPEs: TPE 1, the optimally irrigated Northwestern Plain Zone; TPE 2, the optimally irrigated, heat-stressed North Eastern Plains Zone; and TPE 3, the drought-stressed Central-Peninsular Zone. The correlated response to selection ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 within each TPE. The highest prediction accuracies for GY per TPE were derived using models that included genotype-by-environment interaction and/or meteorological information and their interaction with the lines. The highest prediction accuracies for TPEs 1, 2, and 3 were 0.37, 0.46, and 0.51, respectively, and the respective GY gains were 118, 46, and 123 kg/ha/year. These results can help fine-tune the breeding of elite wheat germplasm with stable yields to reduce farmers’ risk from year-to-year environmental variation in India’s wheat lands, which cover 30 million ha, account for 100 million tons of grain or more each year, and provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of farmers and consumers in South Asia.