Wheat is a globally dominant staple food and one of the highest-consumed products because of its taste, texture, and bread quality. Genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advancement are essential to learning about the yield potential of crops. Finding out wheat’s heritability and genetic advance led to this study’s design at the research area of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, in 2021–2022. The experiment began using 27 wheat genotypes comprising nine parents and 18 F₃ populations evaluated in a random complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Highly significant variations observed came from analysis of variance among parents and F₃ populations for days to heading, plant height, tillers plant^-1, flag leaf area, spikelet’s spike^-1, the number of grains spike^-1, a thousand-grain weight, and biomass yield. The highest heritability estimates of 0.82, 0.87, 0.88, 0.89, 0.86, 0.76, 0.88, 0.86, 0.89, 0.87, 0.86, and 0.84 emerged from Watan × Janbaz, Fakhr-e-Sarhad × AUP-5008, Pirsabak-2005 × AUP-5008, Barsat × Tatara, Fakhr-e- Sarhad × Tatara, Pirsabak-2005 × Tatara, Watan × Tatara, Watan × AUP-5008, AUP-4008 × Janbaz, Barsat × Tatara, Watan × AUP-5008, and Barsat x Janbaz, respectively, for productive traits. The highest values of genetic advance were 32.71, 20.33, 35.08, and 34.24 for Fakhr-e-Sarhad × AUP-5008, Fakhr-e-Sarhad × Janbaz, Pirsabak-2005 × Tatara, and Watan × Tatara, respectively. The parental genotypes Janbaz and AUP-5008 were the most promising genotypes recommended for further evaluation in upcoming breeding schemes.

Keywords: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), F₃ populations, genetic variability, heritability, genetic gain, production traits

Key findings: The analysis of variance showed highly prominent variation among genotypes, parents, and F₃ populations for most traits observed. The parental genotypes, Janbaz and AUP-5008, and F₃ populations, Watan × Janbaz, Fakhr-e-Sarhad × AUP-5008, and Pirsabak-2005 × AUP-5008, exhibited the shortest plants, lengthiest spikes, highest spikelet’s spike^-1, higher grains spike^-1, early maturing, and remarkably high thousand-grain weight. Saleem-2000 × Janbaz hybrid was smaller and early ripening, with the highest grain yield spike^-1, biological, and 1000-grain weight. The hybrid, Watan × Tatara, showed shorter plants, long spikes, a broader flag leaf, the shortest days to heading and maturity, the highest grain yield spike^-1, maximum 1000-grain weight, and higher biological yield. Therefore, these genotypes have the potential to benefit future breeding programs.