Combining Ability for Selected Quantitative Characters in Winter Rye (Secale cereale L.)

General (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities for five agronomic characters of parental components produced in the hybrid rye breeding programme carried out at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute at Radzików was assessed. Twelve restorers (R) were crossed with four male-sterile single crosses (CMS-SC) in polythene greenhouses. 48 hybrids (CMS-SC × R) were sown in a field trial (4 locations, 3 replicates, plot size — 5m2, sowing density — 320 viable kernels/m2). The following characters were assessed: grain yield, heading date, plant height, lodging, and pollen fertility. Analysis of the combining ability was carried out according to the factorial mating design (North Carolina II Design) with the computer software WAKOMBS (TP), elaborated at the Department of Cereal Plants in Kraków.