Prafulla Kumar1, Ravindra Kumar1, L.K. Gangwar2, Neelesh Kapoor1 and Ankit Agrawal1
1Division of Plant Biotechnology, College of Biotechnology, SVPUA&T, Meerut
2Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, SVPUA&T, Meerut
Email: kumarrk2000@yahoo.com
Received-04.10.2023, Revised-15.10.2023, Accepted-26.10.2023
Abstract: This study, conducted during the Rabi seasons of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 at the Crop Research Centre, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut, aimed to assess the performance of 30 wheat genotypes under timely (November 18th) and late sowing conditions (December 28th), in response to heat stress using a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Morphological parameters, such as days to heading, flowering, and maturity, grain filling duration, plant height, spike length, spikelets, effective tillers, grains per spike, 1000 grain weight, biomass, straw yield, harvest index, and grain yield, were recorded. The variance analysis of 14 morphological and yield-related parameters showed significant differences among 30 genotypes under timely and late sown conditions during both crop years which indicate a substantial scope for enhancement. The mean performance of the genotypes revealed wide variations in traits under both sowing conditions. The study demonstrated that timely sown conditions generally resulted in superior phenological development and improved grain yield, with certain genotypes exhibiting robust growth patterns. Conversely, late sowing, compounded by heat stress, led to variations in plant morphology, reduced tiller numbers, altered flowering times, and decreased yield across most genotypes. This research emphasizes the importance of ongoing efforts to develop heat-tolerant wheat genotypes to mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress, especially in regions prone to heat stress in general and at terminal stage in particular.
Keywords: Wheat, Heat stress, Morphological parameters, Grain yield
References
Agarwal, P. K. and Rani, S. D. N. (2009). In: Climatic Change and Indian Agriculture (P.K. Agarwal, Ed.) ICAR, New Delhi.
Akter, N. and Rafiqul-Islam, M. (2017). Heat stress effects and management in wheat. A review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 37: 1-17.
Arya, V. K., Singh, J., Kumar, L., Kumar, R., Kumar, P. and Chand, P. (2017). Genetic variability and diversity analysis for yield and its components in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Indian Journal of Agricultural Research, 51(2): 128-134.
Elahi, E., Khalid, Z. and Zhang, Z. (2022). Understanding farmers’ intention and willingness to install renewable energy technology: A solution to reduce the environmental emissions of agriculture. Applied Energy, 309: 118-126.
Fischer, R. A. and Byerlee, D. B. (1991). Trends of wheat production in the warmer areas: Major issues and economic considerations. In: D.A. Saunders (ed.), 3-27.
Hays, D., Mason, J. H., DoMenz, M. and Reynolds, M. (2007). Expression quantitative traits loci mapping heat tolerance during reproductive development in wheat (Triticum aestivum) In: Wheat production in stressed environments (Buck, H.T., Nishi, J.E. and Salmon, N., eds.), Springer, Netherlands, 73-382.
Joshi, A. K., Chand, R., Arun, B., Singh, R. P. and Ortiz-Ferrara, G. (2007a). Breeding crops for reduced-tillage management in the intensive, rice–wheat systems of South Asia. Euphytica, 153: 135–151.
Joshi, A. K., Mishra, B., Chatrath, R., Ortiz-Ferrara, G. and Singh, R. P. (2007 b). Wheat improvement in India: present status, emerging challenges, and future prospects. Euphytica, 157: 431–446.
Kaddem, W. K., Marker, S. and Lavanya, G. R. (2014). Investigation of genetic variability and correlation analysis of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes for grain yield and its component traits. European Academic Research, 2(5): 6529-6538.
Kumar, P., Kumar, R., Gangwar, L. K., Kumar, M., Kumar, A. and Agrawal, A. (2023a). Exploring physiological and biochemical responses of different wheat genotypes under heat stress conditions. The Pharma Innovation Journal, 12(8),1269-1276.
Kumar, P., Kumar, R., Sushmita and Sengar, R. S. (2023b). Understanding the Impact of Terminal Heat Stress on Wheat: Physiological, Molecular, and Agronomic Perspectives. Biotech Today, 13 (1) : 41 – 46.
Kumar, S., Prerna, K., Kumar, U., Grover, M., Singh, A. K., Singh, R. and Sengar, R. S. (2013). Molecular approaches for designing heat tolerant wheat. J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnology, 22: 359-371.
Nukasani, V., Potdukhe, N. R., Bharad, S., Deshmukh, S. and Shinde, S. M. (2013). Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in wheat. Journal of Cereal Research, 5(2): 48-51.
Prasad, S., Gautam, A., Jajoo, A. and Bassi, F. (2023). Evaluation of Indian Durum Wheat Genotypes for Yield and Quality Traits Using Additive Main-Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) Biplot Analysis under Terminal Heat Stress Conditions. Crop breeding, genetics and genomics, 5(3).
Rangare, N. R., Krupakar, A., Kumar, A. and Singh, S. (2010). Character association and component analysis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 1(3): 231-238.
Sarkar, C. K. G., Srivastava, P. S. L. and Deshmukh, P. S. (2021). Grain growth rate and heat susceptibility index: traits for breeding genotypes tolerant to terminal high temperatures stress in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Indian J. Genet, 61(3):209–212.
Sharma, R. K. and Tandon, J. P. (2007). Investigations on heat tolerance during vegetative and grain filling phases in wheat. Crop Res, 14(92): 269–274.
Singh, T. and Upreti, M. C. (2015). Genetic Diversity for yield and some quality traits in a large collection of wheat germplasm. Asian Journal of Science and Technology, 11: (1968-1975).
Singh, T. and Upreti, M. C. (2015). Genetic Diversity for yield and some quality traits in a large collection of wheat germplasm. Asian Journal of Science and Technology, 11: (1968-1975).
Thapa, B., Khana, B. R. and Marahatta, S. (2019). Effect of conservation agriculture on yield and yield attributing properties of wheat. Advances in Plants and Agriculture Research, 9(2), 329-335.
Yadav, P. K., Tiwari, S., Kushwah, A., Tripathi, M. K., Gupta, N., Tomar, R. S. and Kandalkar, V. S. (2021). Morpho-physiological characterization of bread wheat genotypes and their molecular validation for rust resistance genes Sr2, Sr31 and Lr24. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, 87(3): 534-545.