Agronomic and kernel quality of ancient wheats grown in central and southern Italy

Several genotypes of the two “ancients wheats” species, Khorasan wheat and emmer, wereevaluated in two different marginal areas of central and southern Italy. They were comparedwith some old and new released varieties of durum wheat, in order to better understand theiragronomic potential and their suitability to be grown in those conditions. Khorasan wheat wasthe worst yielding species with the highest plant height, kernel and hectolitre weight. Yieldand kernel weight from emmer resulted intermediate between the other two species, whileplant height did not differ from that of durum wheat. Emmer exhibited high protein and glutencontent. Wide genetic response to many traits was found within each species grouping; thissuggests that some emmer and Khorasan wheat genotypes have the potential to give high qualityproduct and interesting yield in rainfed marginal areas of central and southern Italy.[...

Agronomic and kernel quality of ancient wheats grown in central and southern Italy

Several genotypes of the two "ancients wheats" species, Khorasan wheat and emmer, were evaluated in two different marginal areas of central and southern Italy. They were compared with some old and new released varieties of durum wheat, in order to better understand their agronomic potential and their suitability to be grown in those conditions. Khorasan wheat was the worst yielding species with the highest plant height, kernel and hectolitre weight. Yield and kernel weight from emmer resulted intermediate between the other two species, while plant height did not differ from that of durum wheat. Emmer exhibited high protein and gluten content. Wide genetic response to many traits was found within each species grouping; this suggests that some emmer and Khorasan wheat genotypes have the potential to give high quality product and interesting yield in rainfed marginal areas of central and southern Italy

Agronomic and kernel quality of ancient wheats grown in central and Southern Italy

Several genotypes of the two “ancients wheats” species, Khorasan wheat and emmer, were evaluated in two different marginal areas of central and southern Italy. They were compared with some old and new released varieties of durum wheat, in order to better understand their agronomic potential and their suitability to be grown in those conditions. Khorasan wheat was the worst yielding species with the highest plant height, kernel and hectolitre weight. Yield and kernel weight from emmer resulted intermediate between the other two species, while plant height did not differ from that of durum wheat. Emmer exhibited high protein and gluten content. Wide genetic response to many traits was found within each species grouping; this suggests that some emmer and Khorasan wheat genotypes have the potential to give high quality product and interesting yield in rainfed marginal areas of central and southern Italy

Effect of cultivar and nitrogen fertilizer on agronomic and quality traits of durum wheat under organic management

Quantitative performance as well as product quality traits among a group of durum wheat cultivars developed and selected in different eras from 1915 to 2003 were examined in an south Italian growing region under organic management. Experiments were conducted over four years. Fertilization treatments included the application of 80 kg organic nitrogen (N) fertilizer and fertilization by only the N residue from leguminous pre-crop. Genetic, agronomic and environmental effects for the investigated traits and significant interactions between factors were found. Application of organic N fertilizer increased grain yield and protein concentration, the mean increase compared to the treatment without applied fertilizer was 14.8% and 12.0%, respectively. Moreover, a significant improvement of gluten quality was observed for higher N availability. Significant cultivar by treatment interactions were observed for all quality traits. Cultivars significantly differed in grain yield and semolina protein content; mean values ranged from 2.54 to 3.50 t/ha and from 10.83 to 11.91% d.m., respectively. Modern cultivars showed the highest values. Although, significant cultivar by environment interactions were detected for agronomic and quality traits, cultivars with a stable high performance in regard to grain yield and semolina protein could have been identified. These results evidenced different adaptability of “old” and “modern” cultivars to organic production and identified only one of the “modern” cultivars as suitable to use organic nutrients in order to achieve high grain yield and quality

Durum wheat varieties in N-deficient environments and organic farming: a comparison of yield, quality and stability performances

Stability and reliability of yield and quality for 15 durum wheat genotypes (old and modern) were evaluated in a 5-year experiment (southern Italy) in organic farming. Genotypes were grown at two N levels (0 and 80 kg/ha), with the aim of evaluating ‘genotype × environment’ (GE) interactions and their role on genotype selection in N-limited environments. Several approaches to stability were used, within the frame of mixed models and additive main effects and multiplicative interaction analysis, and their validity in stressful conditions and organic farming was discussed. Especially for protein and gluten content, results indicate high environmental variability and the presence of crossover ‘N × environment’ interactions, which supports the need for specific breeding programmes in N-deficient environments. The average response was strongly affected by N availability (on average, yield was 2.95 and 3.42 t/ha, protein content was 11.6% and 12.85%, gluten content was 8.55% and 9.92%, respectively, at 0 and 80 kg N/ha), and few genotypes gave high yield and quality at both fertilization levels. Only ‘Gargano’ and ‘Fortore’ showed a good inter-year stability at both N levels. The old cultivars gave minimal responsiveness to increased N input, but gave good results in limiting conditions, indicating that they may play a role in organic farming.[...

Scelta delle varietà di grano duro in Puglia e Campania

La coltivazione del grano duro riveste da sempre un ruolo molto importante per Puglia e Campania per il numero delle aziende coinvolte e perché rappresenta uno dei maggiori bacini di produzione a cui si rivolge l’industria di trasformazione. La sperimentazione nazionale consente di identificare le varietà agronomicamente più stabili e quindi capaci di garantire un buon livello quali-quantitativo. Così Dipartimento di ingegneria agraria e agronomia del territorio dell’Università di Napoli ha contribuito alla realizzazione di 3 campi in Puglia e 2 in Campania, al fine di valutare il comportamento produttivo e merceologico delle 30 varietà previste dal protocollo sperimentale Rete nazionale di confronto varietale