ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Ascertaining the Robust Drought Tolerant
Wheat Germplasm for Sustainable Agriculture
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1
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture & Environment,
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan
2
Biotechnology and Germplasm Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences,
Kunming 650205, China
3
Institute of Forest Sciences Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
4
Technical Services Department, Fatima Fertilizers Limited, Lahore, Pakistan
5
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Submission date: 2024-03-12
Final revision date: 2024-05-03
Acceptance date: 2024-05-14
Online publication date: 2024-09-02
Corresponding author
Hafiz Ghulam Muhu-Din Ahmed
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture & Environment,
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan
Yawen Zeng
Biotechnology and Germplasm Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences,
Kunming 650205, China
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ABSTRACT
This study aims to discover and assess how various wheat genotypes respond to abiotic stress,
such as drought, which can result in considerable yield losses in wheat production. A serious global
challenge to food security is the depletion of water resources brought on by excessive irrigation use
and climate change. Therefore, this study was conducted using morphological characteristics to assess
drought tolerance. To investigate wheat genotypes’ tolerance to drought. A total of 50 wheat genotypes
were sown in the field using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications of
normal and drought stress conditions. Principal component analysis (PCA), genotypic and phenotypic
associations, analysis of variance, and reduction percentage computation were all used in this
investigation. Results showed that significant variability was present. Based on the performance, there
were notable differences in the number of tillers, plant height, chlorophyll content, number of spikelets
per spike, peduncle length, flag leaf area, biomass, main spike weight, main spike grain weight, yield
per plant, and thousand-grain weight. A significant positive link between grain yield, thousand-grain
weight, and the number of grains per spike was found using correlation analysis. The five genotypes
G7, G16, G24, G38, and G45 fared well, while the genotypes G11, G23, G32, G41, and G49 did poorly.
Out of 12 principal components (PCs), the first five PCs showed significant genetic variation under
both conditions. The first five PCs showed 0.75% and 0.72% cumulative genetic variation under normal
and drought conditions, respectively. Other characters’ performances were improved by the selection
made based on these characteristics. According to the results, the highest performing germplasm under
drought stress may be a desirable genotype for upcoming breeding projects and early selection criteria
for producing high yields.