Agronomical Performance Among Farro Species and Durum Wheat in a Drought‐Flat Land Environment of Southern Italy

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the agronomical performance of old unhuUed wheat species (farro) in comparison with an old cultivar of durum wheat, selected for morphological and rusticity characteristics similar to farro, in a drought‐flat land environment of southern Italy. The trials were carried out during the 1992/93 and 1993/94 growing seasons. Agronomical responses concerned the behaviour of the different species to weeding treatment (diclofop‐methyl, 568 g a.i, ha−1) and to three (0%, 50%, 100%) artificial weed levels with Avenafatua and Phalaris arundinacea with respect to grain yield and its components, plant morphological aspects and two qualitative characters. In all of the species the weeding treatment increased the mean values of almost all the parameters analysed except for days to head and grain protein content which remained constant. The effect of weed treatment on the characters considered was a general decrease of mean values when weed level was increased. The grain protein content showed an opposite trend. As far as the grain yield alone is concerned, yielding differential in medium and large farro decreased by 3% whereas in small farro it increased by 4.3% vs, durum wheat when no weeding and weeding treatments were compared. Small and large farro resulted more susceptible than medium farro and durum wheat to weed treatment. In fact, these latter showed, at the maximum weed level, the same grain yield loss as small and large farro at the 50% weed level. Small farro was the most susceptible species, while Triticum dicoccum showed similar affinity and behaviour to durum wheat.