Monday, November 13, 2006
58-4

Comparative Performance of Normal and Synthetic Bread Wheat Cultivars under Different Moisture Regimes in Northern Syria.

Osman Abdalla and Ala'a Yaljarouka. ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research), P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria

Synthetic bread wheat has been reported to be a good source for many abiotic stresses, including drought tolerance. In this study 20 synthetic bread wheat derivatives in addition to 4 normal bread wheat genotypes from ICARDA breeding program were evaluated for yield and other agronomic characters under two environments, severe drought stress and reduced stress via one supplemental irrigation, to identify high-yielding moisture stress tolerant genotypes. Evaluations were carried out over two seasons at Tel Hadya in Northern Syria. Split-plot design with three replications was used. Data recorded included crop phenology, grain yield and yield components and in addition drought susceptibility index was calculated.  Highly significant differences among genotypes were observed for all traits. Drought stress significantly reduced crop phenology, plant height, biomass and yield. A range of 12% to 50% reduction in grain yield due to drought stress was observed. Genotypes that exhibited high yield stability across severe and reduced drought stress were identified. Such genotypes are of considerable interest for research on drought stress and water-use efficiency and are of great value to breeding programs.