GERMPLASM DIVERSITY OF WHEAT UNDER DIFFERENT WATER STRESS AND WEEDY CONDITIONS

Drought stress is the major limiting factor for wheat productivity all over the world. Because of severe limitations imposed by drought, development of cultivars with improved productivity under water stress is important for water deficit regions. For this purpose, a set of 24 advanced wheat lines along with four check cultivars was evaluated under irrigated (non-stress) and rainfed (stress) conditions during 2009-10 at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Analysis across two environments revealed significant diversity (P≤0.01) between the two production environments for grain yield and weeds density. The available wheat germplasm was significantly different from each other and drought stress also significantly affected the grain yield of wheat genotypes. Interestingly, wheat genotypes BRF3, Pirsabak-2005 and BVI(N)12 gave better yield under water stress condition by 859, 463, and 115 kg ha-1, respectively than by optimum conditions. Densities of weeds were also significantly reduced under drought stress condition. Thus, drought stress can effectively be tackled with genotypes that perform better under water stress conditions. It can be inferred that maximum wheat germplasm should be collected from different parts of the world to cope with the alarming food situation.