ISSN : 2663-2187

SCREENING OF DROUGHT TOLERANCE WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) GENOTYPES FOR YIELD TRAITS USING TOLERANCE INDICES

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Salman Ali, Islam Zada, Muhammad Babar, Mariam Khan Zaib, Ayesha Hassan, Hadia Hussain, Khalida Hamid Abbasi, Saeeda Khanum, Ashfaq Hussain, Usman Ali Abbasi, Muhammad Zahid Aslam
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.15.2024.11267-11285

Abstract

Drought is a major environmental stress that negatively impacts wheat growth and significantly reduces its productivity. In this study, 31 advanced wheat lines, along with four check varieties, were evaluated under both normal and drought stress conditions using an alpha lattice design with three replications at The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan, during the Rabi crop season of 2017-18. Data were collected on six yield parameters: spikes per square meter, spike length, grains per spike, grain weight per spike, thousand-grain weight, and grain yield (kg/ha). Eight drought tolerance indices were calculated for grain yield, including Tolerance Index (TOL), Stress Susceptibility Index (SSI), Stress Tolerance Index (STI), Geometric Mean Productivity (GMP), Mean Productivity (MP), Harmonic Mean (HM), Yield Index (YI), and Yield Stability Index (YSI). Significant differences (P≤0.01) were observed among genotypes for spikes per square meter, spike length, grains per spike, grain weight per spike, thousand-grain weight, and grain yield across both conditions. The genotype × environment interaction also showed significant variation (P≤0.01) for grains per spike, grain weight per spike, thousand-grain weight, and grain yield, indicating that the genotypes performed inconsistently across different environments. Under both normal and drought conditions, grain yield showed significant positive correlations with STI, GMP, MP, HM, and YSI, suggesting that these indices are reliable for identifying drought-tolerant genotypes. Based on high values of GMP, MP, HM, and overall performance, the genotypes CIM-206, CIM-205, CIM-134, and CIM 130 were identified as more drought-tolerant and high-yielding, making them suitable for both normal and drought conditions. These genotypes are recommended for use in future wheat breeding programs aimed at developing drought-tolerant varieties in Pakistan.

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