PERFORMANCE OF DIVERSE WHEAT GENETIC STOCKS UNDER MOISTURE STRESS CONDITION

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate divergent wheat germplasm for their performance under drought and control conditions. The germplasm consists of wheat land races of Pakistan, advanced D-genome synthetic derivatives and high yielding varieties of Pakistan. This wide array of germplasm was selected to identify sources, which can be opted later by the wheat breeders while breeding for drought tolerance. The evaluation parameters involved some important physiochemical testing and morphological characteristics in the field under drought and control conditions. Based on these parameters, 13 wheat genotypes were selected on the basis of their best performance regarding morphological and physiological parameters. These genotypes exhibited higher yield under drought stress conditions and increased percentage of proline, sugar, SOD and protein content under laboratory conditions as compared to the susceptible genotypes. Correlation studies revealed that grains per spike (GPS) and thousand grain weight (TGW) had direct relationship with spike length (SL), proline and sugar content under both control and drought conditions. Thus, these parameters can be used as selection criteria for the identification of tolerant genotypes.