Production components of bread wheat genotypes under mediterranean conditions

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the contribution and importance of the different yield components of bread wheat genotypes under the highly variable Mediterranean environmental conditions.

For this purpose fifteen bread wheat genotypes were sown at different dates over a period of four years. The experimental layout of the trials was a randomized block design with a split for the genotypes and four replications.

The results show that within the production components it is the number of ears, especially the productive ones, and consequently the number of grains per unit of area that provide the best correlation with grain yield under Mediterranean conditions. The genotypes that produce more grains as the variety Nabão, with ten to twelve thousand grains per square metre, are those achieving the highest yields. Varieties with a medium number of grains under the different environmental conditions always provide only medium yield levels.