Effects of Chlorocholine Chloride and Water Regime on Growth, Yield, and Water Use of Spring Wheat

Abstract

Spring wheat var. 'Kloka', subjected to three water regimes with and without CCC, was grown in containers inside a glasshouse. The grain yield and its components (ear number, number of grains per ear, iooo-grain weight), and aspects of the vegetative growth (dry weights of leaves, stems, and roots, width and length of leaves, number of tillers, number of stomata per unit area of leaves, and the length of tillers) were studied. Evaporation of water from the containers throughout the growth cycle and the evaporation/grain yield ratio were also studied. Water stress tended to decrease the length of tillers, the number of ears, the number of grains per ear, and the dry weight of leaves, stems, and roots. It also decreased the length and the width of leaves. The iooo-grain weight was possibly increased by water stress. CCC-treated tillers were about 32 per cent shorter than the untreated ones. In the former, CCC decreased grain yield in the wet regime, mainly due to decreases in both grain number per ear and iooo-grain weight. However, the number of grains per ear, as average of the three water regimes, was significantly decreased by CCC. Evapotranspiration as well as its ratio to the yield of grain were significantly decreased by CCC, particularly under the dry moisture conditions.