Effects of potassium silicate applications on physiological properties, yield and yield compounds of winter bread wheat cultivars in central anatolian dry conditions

The trial was conducted in irrigation depending on rainfall conditions at "Prof. Dr. Abdulkadir AKCIN Research and Practicing Station of Selcuk University, Agriculture Faculty, Crop Science Department, Konya, Türkiye" during 2024 – 2025 growing season. In the trial that was conducted according to "Split Plots in Randomized Blocks" trial design, bread wheat cultivars (Bozkır, Ikonya and Selcuklu 1) were in the main plots and the treatments [control, 1% K2SiO3 (potassium silicate), 2% K2SiO3 and 3% K2SiO3] were in the sub – plots. Rainfall data was observed during the season and in some critical periods which rainfall was under long years average, 200 mm water was applied. Growth attributes [heading duration (day), plant height (cm), flag leaf node (cm)] and physiological properties [photosynthetic efficiency (Fv Fm-1), stomatal conductance (mmol m2s-1), chlorophyll content (SPAD)], grain yield (kg da-1) and yield attributes [spike length (cm), grain number of per spike, grain weight of per spike (g), thousand grain weight (g)] were determined. The shortest heading duration was determined in İkonya (159.66 days), the highest plant height (61.34 cm), flag leaf node (11.38 cm) in 2% K2Si2O3, the highest chlorophyll content was in 1% K2Si2O3 (54.06 SPAD) and the highest stomatal conductance was in 2% K2SiO3 (32.46 mmol m2s-1) of Selcuklu 1 cultivar. In the experiment, the highest grain yield was obtained from the 2% K2SiO3 treatment of the İkonya variety (234.33 kg da-1), while the lowest value of the group was obtained from the 3% K2SiO3 treatment of the Bozkır variety (157.45 kg da-1). Potassium silicate treatments were observed to significantly increase grain yield (p < 0.05). The highest grain yield was achieved in the 2% K2SiO3 (212.58 kg da-1) application. 2% K2SiO3 treatment was ahead in plant height, flag leaf node length, stomatal conductance and grain yield properties thus it is concluded that K2SiO3 treatments may be alternative approaches to support drought tolerance in the zones with low precipitation.