Adaptation of wheat (Triticum aestivumL) genotypes and related species to water deficiency

Abstract

Wheat production is limited primarily by water deficiency. The challenge of our days is to increase production with less water by promoting biological basis of drought tolerance and higher water use efficiency (WUE).Eight genotypes were examined to make comparison of their response to drought. The plants were grown in pots filled with 8.5 kg soil. The drought stress was started at the mid-flowering stage (Zadoks’ scale: 65) and continued till maturity by adding only 50% of the water given to the control pots. Morphological and physiological characteristics known to be related to drought tolerance were examined.Duration of grain filling was shortened by 3 days in the mean of genotypes, the number of productive tillers were reduced by about 20% in case of the newly bred cultivars and 4–11% for extensive genotypes because of water deficiency. The highest root dry weight increment was measured in case of Emese (71%) and Pantlika (54%), while Cap.Des. increased it’s root weight only by 24%. Yield reduction was...