Assessment of drought tolerance indices in bread wheat genotypes under different sowing dates

Abstract

The capability of a genotype to achieve acceptable yield over a broad range of sub-optimum and suitable conditions is extremely imperative. Late planting and end-season drought stress are two main factors limiting wheat yield in northwest of Iran. In a 2-year field experiment at Miandoab, Iran, the ability of several selection indices to identify drought resistant genotypes under different sowing dates and moisture conditions were evaluated. Six genotypes of differing response to water scarcity were planted at 20-d intervals on three dates from 11 October to 20 November. Drought resistance indices were utilized on the basis of grain yield under end-season drought (Ys) and normal (YN) conditions. Evaluation of MP, HARM, GM, STI, TOL, SSI, RDI, YSI and Yr indicated that late sowing (20 Nov) significantly decreased drought tolerance in all investigated genotypes. However, yield comparisons under normal and terminal drought stress conditions revealed that promising lines (C-81-4, C-81- 10, C-81-14 and C-82-12) had better performance than local checks (Zarrin and Alvand). Furthermore under both moisture conditions C-81-10 genotype had the greatest grain yield. Based on drought indices like as MP, GMP, STI and HARM C-81-10 genotype introduced as the most tolerant genotype to end-season drought stress. Grain yield showed a positive and significant correlation with HARM, GMP, MP, STI and YI indices were more efficient for recognizing high performance genotypes under different sowing dates and diverse moisture stress.