Uncovering the parameters and genetic gain in selection strategies of wheat breeding populations

Wheat is one of the most widely planted cereals in the world. In Brazil, despite the increase in grain yield, there still exists a significant gap between wheat production and demand. The study aimed to estimate the genetic parameters for per-plant production (GY) and predict the genetic gain with the selection of superior genotypes using different strategies. 5,410 plants from 56 F2 populations were analyzed for grain yield (g per plant). Analysis of variance was performed to obtain the genetic parameters. Four selection methods were evaluated: mass selection (MS), stratified mass selection (SMS), selection among and within (SAWP), and combined selection (CS). As main results, we can highlight that there was variability among and within populations. CS showed better gains (12.26%) compared to other methods, which achieved gains of 7.88, 7.95, and 8.18% for MS, SMS, and SAWP, respectively, indicating it as suitable for achieving faster progress in the breeding program.