Study of the Possibility of Using Synthetic Wheat Derivatives Under Warm and Dry Conditions

Wheat breeding for heat and drought tolerance provides possibility in better using of arid and semi-arid regions and increase land area and stability of wheat production. Forty wheat genotypes in a heat tolerance nursery from CIMMYT were evaluated in alpha-lattice design with two replications in Gachsaran Agricultural Research Station in 2004-2005 cropping season. Selected lines were tested in another experiment using randomized complete block design with three replications in 2005-06. The results showed that synthetic derivatives had higher early growth vigor, earliness from one to five days in comparison with check, optimum plant height, moderate spike length and tiller, relatively higher thousand kernel weight in dryland conditions (33 g) and grain yield up to 35 percent more than the adapted bread wheat check cultivar (Zagros). Successful performance of these lines under various intensity of heat and drought stresses, indicate the promising application of these genotypes in large ared and various semi- tropical drylands. However, some common wheat lines had close competition in view of agronomic traits and grain yield with the check cultivar