Compare of some bread wheat cultivars grown in Konya for their resistance to early drought stress

In the study, 10 winter bread wheat varieties adapted to Konya ecological conditions were compared in terms of some morpho-physiological traits thought to play a role in resistance to early drought stress. The study was carried out in randomized plots with three replications, with treatments (with and without water stress conditions) placed in main plots and varieties in subplots, according to split plot design. In this context, morpho-physiological traits of the varieties such as leaf area, root length, plant height, root dry weight, crown (shoot) dry weight, root/crown ratio, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll-a/b ratio, carotenoid content, leaf ash content, membrane stability, leaf water retention capacity, leaf relative water content and leaf temperature reduction were investigated. All variation sources (treatments, cultivars and treatment×cultivar interaction) showed statistically significant differences in terms of the investigated traits such as chlorophyll-a, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll-a/b ratio, leaf carotenoid content, membrane stability, leaf water retention capacity, leaf relative water content and leaf temperature depression. In addition, traits such as leaf area, root length, root dry weight and crown dry weight showed statistically significant changes according to stressed and non-stressed conditions. In addition, significant positive relationships such as leaf area to crown dry weight, root/crown ratio to YOSI, chlorophyll contents (CC) to carotenoid content, CC to MK and CC toYOSI, and carotenoid content to YOSI were underlined. On the other hand, crown dry weight showed significant negative correlations with root/crown ratio, chlorophyll-a, total chlorophyll and chlorophyll-a/b ratio under water stress. It is possible to recommend these morpho-physiological traits to breeders because they can be easily and safely used in drought resistance breeding. Moreover, it was concluded that Yavuz and İkonya cultivars could be used as genetic sources in the development of new drought-resistant materials.