abstract
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Wheat is grown under the different sowing dates in the central zone of India. An experiment was conducted including 20 released wheat cultivars for two consecutive years at three different sowing dates (early, timely, and late) to identify stable high-yielding genotypes with superior grain quality. The data was recorded for days to flowering, plant height, 1000 seed weight, grain yield, yellow pigment, protein and SDS content for all six experiments, and grain iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in only three experiments of the first year. In the individual experiment analysis, the genotypic variance (σ2g) was significant for all traits except for grain Fe in the timely sown condition. In the case of pooled analysis for 1st year, the genotypic (σ2g) and date of sowing variance (σ2s) were significant for all the studied traits. Whereas interaction due to Genotype X Sowing (σ2g.s) was non-significant for grain iron concentration. A significant positive association was recorded between grain Fe and Zn in all three sowing dates (r= 0.18 to 0.33, P < 0.01) and in polled analysis. GGE biplot analysis observed that HI 1544 is the most stable genotype for grain Fe concentration and for grain Zn concentration genotype HI1605 followed by HI 8777 are the most stable genotypes across different sowing dates. Although simultaneous improvement for grain Fe and Zn in wheat is possible due to a high positive correlation, but selection based on grain Fe could be fictitious due to unstable behaviour of grain Fe in wheat.