EVALUATION OF SOME DURUM WHEAT CULTIVARS IN THE NEWLY RECLAIMED SANDY SOILS IN MIDDLE EGYPT

Abstract

A filed experiment was conducted in the newly reclaimed lands in El-Minia Governorate (Middle Egypt), Egypt, in the two successive winter growing seasons 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, this study aimed to find the durum wheat cultivars having high yielding potential and suitable for growing under newly reclaimed sandy soils to increase wheat the productivity in Middle Egypt in randomized complete blocks design with four replicates. The results showed that wheat cultivars Beni Sweif 7 and Beni Sweif 1 were t h e earliest cultivars in heading (116.5 and 102.5 days) in t h e first and second seasons, respectively. Beni Sweif 5 was earlier than the other cultivars in maturity (142.8 and 128 days) in both seasons. Beni Sweif 7 had the tallest plants (80.1 and 76.3 cm). Sohag 5 recorded the highest number of spikes m-2 (330.2 and 360). The highest number of kernels spike-1 (54.5 and 49.0 kernels), 1000-kernel weight (50.46 and 41.77gm), grain yield (19.03 and 16.28 ardab faddan-1 ), biological yield (7.525 and 6.191 ton faddan-1 ) and harvest index (37.90 and 39.23 %) were produced by Beni Sweif 1. Moreover, Beni Sweif 1 recorded the highest grain yield at as an average of the two seasons producing 17.65 ardab faddan-1 followed by Sohag 5 (15.06 ardab faddan-1 ) and Beni Sweif 7 (14.55 ardab faddan-1 ) which were higher than the general mean of the seven durum wheat cultivars (14.54 ardab faddan-1 ). Significant and positive correlations were found in the second season only between number of spikes m-2 and days to heading, between grain yield and number of spikes m-2 , and between biological yield and number of spikes m-2 and grain yield. Therefore, durum wheat cultivar Beni Sweif 1 followed by Sohag 5 and Beni Sweif 7 were the best performing by producing the highest grain yield and could be recommended to be grown under new land conditions in Middle Egypt.