The aim of this research was to evaluate the genetic variability of 18 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes by quantitative agro-morphological traits, and to identify factors affecting the cultivars grain yield. A two years study (2017- 2019) was conducted at the Experimental Field of the Agricultural University of Tirana (altitude of 40 m above the sea level, Latitude 41°24'6.14"N and Longitude 19°44'9.93"E). Plant material used, is part of the 270 accessions of the base collection of the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources. During the growing crop years, the accessions were evaluated for different quantitative characters and morphological characterization of the accessions was conducted according to international standards. ANOVA, principal components and cluster analysis were carried out involving nine quantitative traits, such as tiller capacity, plant height, spike length, number of spikelet’s per spike, number of seeds per spikelet, number of seeds per spike, weight of seeds per spike, weight of 1000 seeds and grain yield. According to PCA, three components exhibited about 75.51% of the variability within 18 wheat genotypes. Accessions were grouped into three major clusters based on Euclidean distance, suggesting that wheat genotypes with major level of dissimilarity between them were “Generozo” and “Ejesh”. The results revealed that tiller capacity, number of seeds per spikelet, weight of seeds per spike/g and weight of 1000 seeds/g were the most important characters in differentiating the genotypes. Wheat genotypes used in this study reacted differently in the two growing seasons, giving high results in most of the traits that contribute directly in grain yield during 2017/2018 crop year. The use of principal component and correlation coefficient analysis in the wheat germplasm, simplify dependable classification of bread wheat germplasm, the identification of the superior genotypes and their relation with bio morphological traits with possibility expenditure in future breeding programs.
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