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YIELD OF SYNTHETIC-DERIVED BREAD WHEAT UNDER VARYING MOISTURE REGIMES

FIDA MOHAMMAD^1*, O.S. ABDALLA², S. RAJARAM², ALA’A YALJAROUKA², SHAD K. KHALIL³, NAQIB ULLAH KHAN¹, IFTIKHAR HUSSAIN KHALIL¹ AND IJAZ AHMAD¹

Abstract: Synthetic-derived bread wheat populations are used as sources of resistance genes for biotic and abiotic stresses. This study used direct field evaluation of synthetic-derived wheat lines to assess grain yield and its associated traits under varying moisture regimes during 2005-06 and 2006-07 at Tel Hadya and Breda, International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria. Forty synthetic-derived wheat lines and 8 check cultivars were tested in 5 experiments using alpha-lattice design with 3 replicates. Analyses of variance revealed significant (p≤0.01) differences for grain yield and its associated traits except for biomass. Interactions due to genotype and environment were significant for all traits except for 1000-kernel weight. Phenotypic correlation coefficients of grain yield with grains spike^-1, plant height and harvest index were r = 0.80^**, r = 0.73^** and r = 0.68^**, respectively. Cluster analyses of genotypes and environments clarified the effects of yield components and phenology on grain yield. Based on the shift multiplicative model (SHMM) analyses for 48 genotypes and 5 environments, grains spike^-1 and harvest index were the major contributing components towards grain yield. Frequency and distribution of precipitation during the crop cycle differentiated yield potential across years. However, performance of synthetic-derived lines at various moisture levels was not significantly affected within each year at Tel Hadya and thus can act as good sources for drought-prone environments. We identified some lines bearing T. tauschii germplasm with yields equal and superior in some of the yield components to that of the high-yielding cultivars used as checks, thus providing useful material to wheat breeders.

¹Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan.

²International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria.

³Department of Agronomy, KPK Agricultural University Peshawar 25130, Pakistan.

^*E-mail: fida270463@yahoo.com