In search for superior wheat (
Triticum aestivum
L.) varieties for the marginal areas of Kenya various breeding methods have been applied. These include introductions, mutation and the doubled haploid technique. The application of doubled haploid (DH) technique in breeding for drought tolerance has proved to be very effective and efficient for such complex characters as drought. This study was aimed at evaluating and validating doubled haploid lines (DHs) that were developed in 2000 using the chromosome elimination technique. The resulting lines have also been compared with other lines introduced from CIMMYT and two mutants developed in Njoro. The lines were tested in multi-locational trials in 2002 and repeated in 2003. The sites were Lanet, Mogotio, Naivasha, Mweiga, Kajiado and Katumani. The results show that the DHs were as good as the conventionally developed lines and had a better performance in yield than the check variety Chozi and Duma. One of the DHs had average yield of 1.7 t ha
-1, which was not significantly different from Chozi with the same mean yield and R960 with a mean yield of 2.0 t ha
-1. The DH technique therefore saves time of breeding without compromising quality of the output.
