3 research outputs found
Tritordeum, wheat and triticale yield components under multi-local mediterranean drought conditions
The species x location interaction was of great importance in explaining the behaviour
of genetic material. The study presented here shows, for the first time, the performance,
under field conditions of the new tritordeum species, compared to wheat and triticale in
a wide range of Mediterranean countries (Spain, Lebanon and Tunisia). The results
obtained revealed that despite the diversity of environmental conditions, the main
differences in yield were due to genotypes, especially to differences between species.
The multi-local study with different growth conditions revealed important information
about the water availability effect on yield. In the lowest yielding environments (Tunisia
rainfed), Tritordeum and triticale yields were equivalent. However under better growth
conditions (Spain), tritordeum yield was shown to be lower than wheat and triticale.
Interestingly, when water limitation was extended during the pre-anthesis period,
differences in tritordeum versus wheat-triticale yield rate were larger than when water
stress occurred during anthesis. These variations were explained by the fact that kernel
weight has been found as the limiting factor for yield determination in tritordeum, and a
delay in the anthesis date may have been the cause for the low kernel weight and low
yield under Mediterranean drought conditions. Such differences in yield between
tritordeum and wheat or triticale could be explained by the fact that tritordeum is a
relatively new species and far fewer resources have been devoted to its improvement
when compared to wheat and triticale. Our results suggest that breeding efforts should
be directed to an earlier anthesis date and a longer grain filling period.
tritordeum proved to have possibilities to be grown under drought environments as a
new crop, since its performance was quite close to wheat and triticale. Besides, it has
qualitative added values that may improve farmers' income per unit land