Effects of drought stress on some agronomic and morphological traits of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) landraces under greenhouse condition

Abstract

Although, drought stress has been well documented as an effective parameter in decreasing crop production; developing and releasing new varieties which are adaptable to water deficit conditions can be a constructive program to overcome unsuitable environmental conditions. The present study was carried out to study the effect of drought stress under greenhouse conditions in Islamic Azad University of Ardabil Branch, Iran. The agronomic and morphological traits of 25 durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) genotypes were investigated. The present study was done based on randomized complete block design with three replications in drought stress and normal irrigation conditions in a greenhouse. The analysis of variance has indicated that there are significant differences among the genotypes in all the traits, which indicate that there are great variations among genotypes in order to use in improvement plans. Analysis of variance shows that drought stress has a significant effect on all studied traits except harvest index. The comparison of means indicated that the genotypes; poldash, sari boghda and germi in normal condition and sari boghda, omrabi-5, langan, germi and germi under stress condition, are the superior groups. Grain yield has shown a positive and significant correlation with peduncle length, number of grains per spike, 1000 grain weight, biological yield and harvest index. Cluster analysis divides the genotypes into three groups in each condition. The best genotypes were included in a group which confirms the results of the compared means yield.

Key words: Agronomic traits, durum wheat, genetic diversity, yield components.