Identification of Drought Tolerant Wheat Genotypes through Multi-Index Approach under Different Irrigation Regimes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70749/ijbr.v4i3.2994Keywords:
Wheat, Drought Tolerance, Genotypes, Grain Yield, Yield Stability, Drought Tolerance IndicesAbstract
Wheat is a globally important cereal crop that serves as a major staple for billions of people. However, its productivity in rainfed areas is increasingly threatened by drought (one of the most severe abiotic stresses), which is exacerbated by climate change. This study aimed to evaluate the drought tolerance of 33 exotic wheat genotypes along with seven local checks under irrigated and rainfed conditions during the 2023–24 growing season at the Balochistan Agricultural Research and Development Center (BARDC), Quetta. The experiment was conducted using a factorial RCBD design with three replicates. Grain yield under normal (Ypi) and stress (Ysi) conditions was used to compute 11 drought tolerance indices, including Mean Productivity (MP), Geometric Mean Productivity (GMP), Harmonic Mean (HARM), Stress Tolerance Index (STI), and others. Genotypes BARDC-26, BARDC-31, BARDC-24, BARDC-9, BARDC-14, and BARDC-19 consistently exhibited the highest values across multiple indices (MP, GMP, MRP, HARM, MSTIK1, MSTIK2, and REI), as well as superior grain yield under both conditions, classifying them as drought-tolerant and high-yielding. In contrast, BARDC-16, BARDC-15, BARDC-12, BARDC-8, and BARDC-2 exhibited low index values and were identified as drought-sensitive. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships between both Ypi and Ysi with MP, GMP, HARM, REI, and MSTIK1, while TOL was negatively correlated with Ysi, underscoring its inefficiency in selecting drought-tolerant genotypes. PCA showed that the first two components explained 97.7% of the total variation, with drought indices such as MP, GMP, and STI contributing most to genotype differentiation. Cluster analysis grouped the genotypes into four distinct clusters, with Cluster I (including BARDC-26, BARDC-31, BARDC-24, BARDC-9, BARDC-14, BARDC-25, and BARDC-19) comprising the most stable and drought-tolerant genotypes. These findings underscore the effectiveness of multivariate drought indices in identifying stable, high-yield genotypes for both irrigated and rainfed environments. The selected genotypes offer strong potential for future breeding programs targeting drought resilience in arid and semi-arid regions of Balochistan.
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