Improvement in spring wheat quality in Pakistan

Forty-four spring wheat varieties released since 1933 to the farmers were tested for quality improvement using canonical variety analysis. Crude protein increased by 6.95% from 1933 to 1996. Ash content and flour yield declined by 9.55% and 5.51%, respectively. Mixograph development time increased since 1933 and was maximum during 1965-1980. As far as baking quality is concerned, total chapati scores of modern cultivars were 8.97% higher than that of cultivars grown since 1933. The average spread ratio and overall cookie scores increased almost 5.53% and 4.44%, respectively from 1933 to 1996. It was interesting to note that overall cookie scores were maximum during 1981-1990 while total chapati scores were minimum during this period. Various segments of wheat processing and data used for canonical variety analysis to study improvement in quality traits from 1933 to 1996 indicated that in different scenarios substantial progress has been made i n breeding wheat varieties, with improvement in chapati and cookie quality as well as nutritionally. The epoch (1991-1996) containing the modern varieties showed a substantial improvement in lysine content than the epoch containing the oldest wheat varieties. Similarly amino acid score was also found 4.26% higher than the varieties released during 1933-1964. Though improvement was of lesser magnitude but sufficient which ultimately contributed towards the nutritional needs of Pakistani population. However care should be taken to maintain the current levels of various wheat quality characteristics and to make improvement in lysine, which will be appreciable for export quality wheat. This will be ultimately helpful to earn handsome foreign exchange by exporting surplus wheat. These informations will be useful for the researchers working in the field of quality improvement.