article · Sustainability
Water scarcity poses a major threat to wheat production in arid and semi-arid regions. Evaluating fourteen widely grown bread wheat genotypes under varying water stress levels revealed significant differences in physiological and yield responses. Plants were tested under well-watered conditions, mild stress at sixty percent water holding capacity, and severe stress at forty percent water holding capacity from jointing stage to maturity. While drought reduced photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, water content, 100-grain weight, and overall grain yield across all genotypes, performance varied substantially. The genotype Galaxy-2013 demonstrated the highest resilience under severe drought, maintaining superior relative water content, net photosynthesis, and stomatal conductance. Furthermore, Galaxy-2013 achieved the highest grain yield per plant and 100-grain weight under severe stress. Johar-2016 recorded the highest yield under well-watered conditions, followed by Galaxy-2013. These findings highlight Galaxy-2013 as a promising genotype for cultivation under water-limited conditions.
Climate change and expanding water scarcity increasingly threaten cereal production in arid and semi-arid farming systems. Identifying and deploying wheat varieties that retain photosynthetic capacity and sustain crop yields during periods of water deficit helps protect food supplies. Understanding which existing genotypes perform best under drought enables farmers to maintain agricultural productivity even when irrigation water is severely constrained.
This applied research provides direct guidance on specific, existing wheat cultivars, particularly Galaxy-2013, that farmers and agricultural extension officers can utilise in drought-prone areas. Because the evaluated genotypes are already cultivated on a large scale, the work is near-market and immediately actionable. Seed producers, agronomic advisory services, and farming enterprises can use these performance data to select and promote drought-tolerant varieties for water-limited environments.
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Water scarceness is a major threat to wheat productivity under changing climate scenarios, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. However, growing drought-tolerant wheat genotypes could be a sustainable option to enhance wheat productivity under drought stress conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of mild to severe drought stress on gas exchange parameters, relative water content, SPAD-chlorophyll value, and yield-related parameters of 14 wheat genotypes being cultivated in arid to semi-arid areas on large scale. The genotypes were grown in earthen pots under three drought levels, namely (1) control-well watered, (2) mild water stress, i.e., 60% water holding capacity, and (3) severe water stress, i.e., 40% water holding capacity. The drought was imposed from the jointing stage to physiological maturity. Drought significantly decreased net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, relative water contents, 100-grain weight, and grain yield in all genotypes. However, the reduction percentage was different in different genotypes under drought stress compared with well-watered conditions. The highest relative water content (65.2%) was maintained by the genotype Galaxy-2013, followed by AAS-2011 (64.6%) and Johar-2016 (62.3%) under severe drought conditions. Likewise, Galaxy-2013 showed the highest net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance under severe drought conditions. The highest grain yield per plant (6.2 g) and 100-grain weight (3.3 g) was also recorded in Galaxy-2013 under severe drought conditions, while the highest grain yield under well-watered conditions was recorded in Johar-2016, followed by Galaxy-2013. These results suggest that wheat variety Galaxy-2013 could be cultivated extensively to obtain good wheat yield under limited water conditions.
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DOI: 10.3390/su13094799
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