Variation in Early Growth, Canopy Temperature, Translocation and Yield of Four Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Genotypes under Semi Arid Conditions

The investigation was carried out on the experimental site of the Field Crop Institute Experimental Farm located near the town of Sétif (Algeria). The objective was to investigate the differences in developmental rate, canopy temperature and yield between four durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) genotypes. The experiment was laid down in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were collected on canopy temperature, relative growth rate, green flag leaf area duration, translocation, earliness, plant height and grain yield. The results indicated that the two genotypes, Waha and Boussalam, due to their fast early growth rate, accumulated significantly more above ground biomass at the juvenile, reproductive and grain filling growth phases. They achieved high dry weight of spikes m-2 at anthesis and at physiological maturity. Grain yield varied from 1.95 t.ha-1 in MBB to 2.87 t.ha-1 in Waha. The genotypes diverged also for the amount of assimilates transferred to the grain which varied from 26.6 to 39.5% of the final grain yield. These results indicated that the selection of faster early growing, short cycle genotypes, bearing smaller leaves and high spike number should be favoured for the high plateaus of eastern Algeria