The Relationship of Environmental Factors with Phenological Characteristics and Grain Yield of Some Commercial Bread Wheat Cultivars in Different Sowing Dates

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Shiraz, Iran.

2 Associate professor, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of sowing date and enviromental factors during different growth stages on some phenological characterisitcs and grain yield of commercial bread wheat cultivars. The experiment was carried out as split-plot arrangements in randomized complete block design with three replications at the Darab reaesrch field station in 2018-19 and 2019-20 cropping cycles. Five sowing dates: October 27, 11, and November 26, December 11, and 26, were assigned to the main plots. Five commercial wheat cultivars: Mehregan, Barat, Khalil, Sarang, and Setareh, were randomized in the subplots. Results showed that the late maturity cultivars, Khalil and Brat, had higher grain yield in earlier sowing dates. Early maturity cultivars, Setareh and Mehregan, had less yield reduction in later sowing dates. The highest and lowest mean grain yield obtained from November 11 (6934 Kg ha-1) and December 26 (5775 kg ha-1), respectively. Number of days and required growing degree-days (GDD) decreased with delaying sowing date. The decrease of required GDD to reach commencement of stem elongation, anthesis and maturity stages from the first to fifth sowing date was 181, 282 and 528 GDD, respectively. Simultaneous effect of weather variables and sowing date on some characteristics revealed that the first two components explained approximately 41% of total variation. Results showed that temperature was the most important factor controlling the phenological stages duration. Despite the importance of temperature, changes in sowing date can alter the required GDD for phenological stages due to other environmental factors. In general, the results of this study can provide an insight into bread wheat cultivars responses to different climatic conditions and development of new bread wheat cultivars adapted to target environments.
 
Keywords: Bread wheat, growing degree-days, stem elongation, anthesis, physiological maturity.
Introduction
Global warming due to climate change is significant challenge for the sustainability of wheat production due to the complex interactions between genotype and climate factors (Nuttall et al., 2018). Under conditions of climate change, it is important to evaluate the response of plant phenological stages to climate change. Therefore, accurate understanding of genotype × environment interactions (GEI) and selecting superior genotypes adapted to environments and climate fluctuations requires thorough knowledge of genetic adaptation principles and their physiological and environmental bases (Ashworth et al., 2023). In this context, it is crucial to investigate the effect of environmental factors such as meteorological data on wheat phenological stages and grain yield as well as their interaction effects during vegetative and reproductive growth. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis of environmental parameters can elucidate changes in crop yield resulting from genotypic responses in different environments and identify the most sensitive growth stages to environmental and climatic variables (Porker et al., 2020). The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of agroclimatic indices and meteorological factors on different phenological stages and grain yields of commercial bread wheat cultivars in different dates for bread wheat breeding programs for development of new cultivars with wide adaptability to chamging climate in target environments.
 
Materials and methods
Five commercial bread wheat cultivars, Mehregan, Barat, Khalil, Sarang, and Setareh, as sub-plots were planted in five sowing dates, October 27, November 11, November 26, December 11, and December 26 as main plots using split-plot arrangement in randomized complet block design with three replications at the Darab resrach field station in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 cropping cycles. For each sowing date, the number of days and required growing degree-days (GDD) from emergence to commencement of stem elongation (CSE), anthesis (Anth) and physiological maturity (PMA), and grain filling duration (GFD) from anthesis stage were calculated for all bread wheat cultivars. Analysis of variance was performed using SAS ver. 9.1 software, and Tukey's test was used for mean comparisons. To investigate the simultaneous effect of meteorological covariables and sowing date on bread wheat cultivars, the partial least squares regression (PLSR) method was used in GEA-R v4.1 software (Pacheco et al., 2015). The Y matrix consists of grain yield variables measured on five cultivars in five sowing dates, and the X matrix contains meteorological covariables including mean minimum temperature, mean maximum temperature, number of sunny hours per day and total rainfall, whcich were calculated for the four phenological stages in each sowing date. Finally, the PLSR results were displayed graphically using biplot with the coordinates of environments, genotypes, and meteorological covariables simultaneously based on the first two components.
 
Results and Discussion
Combine analysis of variance showed that the difference in the number of days to CSE stage among the studied bread wheat cultivars in the five different sowing dates was not significant. However, the required GDD for this stage decreased by 181 degree-days from the first sowing date (October 27) to the fifth sowing date (December 26). The longest number of days to Anth and PMA for the cultivars corresponded to the first sowing date. Additionally, the highest and lowest required GDD for the Anth and PMA stages belonged to the first and last sowing dates, respectively. Cv. Khalil had the most and Setareh had the least number of days and total required GDD to reach different phenological stages. Generally, the temperature requirement of early breadwheat cultivars was lower than late cultivars (Jalal Kamali and Sharifi, 2010). Delaying the sowing date exposed the cultivars to higher mean daily temperatures and reduces the length of the phenological periods, thereby decreasing the number of days needed for anthesis and physiological maturity (Ashena et al., 2015). The number of days and required GDD for GFD both decreased from the first sowing date to the last. While the number of days required for the GFD stage did not differ significantly among bread wheat cultivars, the required GDD for this stage was lower in early-maturing bread wheat cultivars.
The highest average grain yield of 6935 kg ha-1 obtained from the second sowing date (November 11), while the lowest grain yield of 5775 kg ha-1 belonged to the last sowing date (December 26). The highest and lowest averages grain yield belonged to cv. Khalil (6639 kg ha-1) and Setareh (5557 kg ha-1), respectively. Relatively late cv. Khalil and cv. Barat performed well in early sowing dates. While, the early cv. Setareh and cv. Mehregan showed less variation in grain yield in latest sowing date when compared with the earliest. 
Study of the simultaneous effects of meteorological covariates and sowing date on grain yield using PLSR showed that mean minimum and maximum temperatures during Anth and GFD stages had a substantial impact on grain yield for delayed sowing dates. Early cv. Setareh and cv. Mehregan were more tolerant to higher temperatures during Anth and GFD stages. The higher grain yield in the second sowing date could be due to greater total rainfall as well as lower temperatures during Anth and GFD. Overall, temperature strongly controlled the duration of different phenological stages. Despite the importance of temperature, changes in sowing date also altered the required GDD for the duration of phenological stages of bread wheat due to other climatic and environmental factors. In conclusion, the results of this study can provide an insight into bread wheat cultivars responses to different climatic conditions and development of new bread wheat cultivars adapted to target environments.
 
Reference
Ashena, M., Kafi, M., Jafarnejad, A. and Sharifi, H.R. 2015. Evaluation of planting date and nitrogen effects on the development stages of wheat cultivars and their relationship with yield and yield components in Nishabur. Crop Production, 8(4), pp.143-162. (in Persian).  DOI: 20.1001.1.2008739.1394.8.4.8.4
Ashworth, A.J., Allen, F.L. and Saxton, A.M. 2023. Using partial least squares and regression to interpret temperature and precipitation effects on maize and soybean genetic variance expression. Agronomy, 13(11), pp. 2752. DOI:10.3390/agronomy13112752
Jalal Kamali, M.R. and Sharifi, H.R. 2010. Variation in developmental stages and its relationship with yield and yield components of bread wheat cultivars under field conditions II: Yield and yield components. Seed and Plant Production Journal, 26(1), pp.1-23. (in Persian).
Nuttall, J.G., Barlow, K.M., Delahunty, A.J., Christy, B.P. and O’Leary, G.J. 2018. Acute high temperature response in wheat. Agronomy Journal, 110(4), pp.1296-1308. DOI: 10.2134/agronj2017.07.0392
 
 
 

References

Abdi, H. 2010. Partial least squares regression and projection on latent structure regression (pls regression). WIREs Computational Statistics, pp.1–10. DOI: 10.1002/wics.051
 
 
Aula, L., Omara, P., Eickhoff, E., Oyebiyi, F., Dhillon, J.S. and Raun, W.R. 2020. Effect of winter wheat cultivar on grain yield trend under different nitrogen management. Agrosystem, Geosciences and Environment, 3(1), pp.1-7. DOI: 10.1002/agg2.20017
 
 
Ceglar, A., Toreti, A., Lecerf, R., Van der Velde, M. and Dentener, F. 2016. Impact of meteorological drivers on regional inter-annual crop yield variability in France. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 216, pp. 58-67. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.10.004
 
 
Elahmadi, A.B. 1994. Development of wheat germplasm tolerant to heat stress in Sudan. Pp. 48-84. In: Saunders, D.A., Hettel, G.P. (eds.) Wheat in Heat-stressed Environments: Irrigated, Dry Areas and Rice–Wheat Farming Systems. CIMMYT, Mexico DF.
 
 
Gabriel, K.R. 1971. Biplot display of multivariate matrices with application to principal component analysis. Biometrica 58(3), pp. 435-467. DOI: 10.2307/2334381
 
 
Ghanbari, A., Roshani.  H. and Tavasso. A. 2012. Effect of sowing date on some agronomic characteristics and seed yield of winter wheat cultivars. Journal of Crop Ecophysiology. 2(22), pp. 127-144. (in Persian).
 
 
Haji, H.M. and Hunt, L.A. 1999. Genotype-environment interactions and underlying environmental factors for winter wheat in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 79, pp. 497-505. DOI: 10.4141/P98-075
 
 
Hammer, G., Cooper, M., Tardieu, F., Welch, S., Walsh, B., van Eeuwijk, F., Chapman, S. and Podlich, D. 2006. Models for navigating biological complexity in breeding improved crop plants. Trends Plant Science, 11(12), pp. 587-593. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2006.10.006
 
 
Jalal Kamali, M.R., Sharifi, H.R., Khodarahmi, M., Jokar, R., Turkeman, H. and Qavidel, N. 2008. Variation in developmental stages and its relationship with yield and yield components of bread wheat cultivars under field conditions I: Phenology. Seed and Plant Journal, 23(4), pp.445-472. (in Persian).
 
 
Jalal Kamali, M.R. and Sharifi, H.R. 2010. Variation in developmental stages and its relationship with yield and yield components of bread wheat cultivars under field conditions II: Yield and yield components. Seed and Plant Production Journal, 26(1), pp.1-23. (in Persian).
 
 
Kalateh Arabi, M., Sheikh, F., Soqi, H. and Hivehchie, J. 2011. Effects of sowing date on grain yield and its components of two bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars in gorgan in Iran. Seed and Plant Production, 27(3), pp. 285-296.
(in Persian). DOI: 10.22092/SPPJ.2017.110438
 
 
Khajehpour, M.R. 2014. Principles and foundatals of crop production. Jihad-e-Daneshgahi of Isfahan University of Technology.  Isfahan, Iran. 658 pp. (in Persian).
 
 
Liu, Y., Gao, M.S., Wu, W., Tanveer, S.K., Wen, X.X. and Liao, Y.C. 2013. The effects of conservation tillage practices on the soil water-holding capacity of a
non-irrigated apple orchard in the Loess Plateau, China. Soil and Tillage Research, 130, pp.7–12. DOI: 10.1016/j.still.2013.01.012
 
 
Liu, J., He, Q., Zhou, G., Song, Y., Guan, Y. and Xiao, X. 2023. Effects of sowing date variation on winter wheat yield: conclusions for suitable sowing dates for high and stable yield. Agronomy, 13, pp.991-1002. DOI: 10.3390/agronomy13040991
 
 
Malihipour, A., Esmaeilzadeh Moghaddam, M., Najafian, G., Roustaei, M., Najafi Mirak, T., Amini, A., Khodarahmi, M. and Bakhtiar, F. 2020. Iranian wheat cultivars (Released from 1931 to 2019). Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization. Karaj, Iran. 172 pp. (in Persian).
 
 
Mkhabela, M., Ash, G., Grenier, M. and Bullock, P. 2016. Testing the suitability of thermal time models for forecasting spring wheat phenological development in western Canada.  Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 96, pp. 765-775. DOI: 10.1139/cjps-2015-0351
Mohammadi, R., Sadeghzadeh, B., Ahmadi, M.M. and Amri, A. 2020. Biological interpretation of genotype × environment interaction in rainfed durum wheat. Cereal Research Communications, 48(4), pp.547-554. DOI: 10.1007/s42976-020-00056-7
 
 
Mohammadi-Pour, M., Mousavi Baygi, M., Sarmad, M. and Ansari, H. 2015. Investigating the effect of weather factors on the yield of rainfed and irrigated wheat in three important wheat production regions. Pp. 13398. In: Proceedings of International conference on sustainable development, strategies and challenges, with a focus on agriculture, natural resources, environment and tourism. 25 Feb. 2015, Tabriz, Iran (in Persian).
 
 
Mousavi, F., Siahpoosh, M.R. and Sorkheh, K. 2021. Influence of sowing date and terminal heat stress on phonological features and yield components of bread wheat genotypes. Journal of Plant Production, 44(2), pp.157-170. (in Persian). DOI: 10.22055/ppd.2019.28957.1744
 
 
Nuttall, J.G., Barlow, K.M., Delahunty, A.J., Christy, B.P. and O’Leary, G.J. 2018. Acute high temperature response in wheat. Agronomy Journal, 110(4), pp.1296-1308. DOI: 10.2134/agronj2017.07.0392
 
 
Pacheco, A., Rodriguez, F., Alvarado, M., Lopez, M., Crossa, J. and Burgueno, J. 2015. GEA-R (genotype × environment analyses with R for Windows) version 4.1. CIMMYT Research Data and Software Repository Network, V16. https://hdl.handle.net/11529/10203
 
 
Parmesan, C. and Hanley, M.E. 2015. Plants and climate change: complexities and surprises. Annals Botany, 116, pp. 849-864. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcv169
 
 
Porker, K., Coventry, S., Fettell, N.A., Cozzolino, D. and Eglinton, J. 2020. Using a novel PLS approach for envirotyping of barley phenology and adaptation. Field Crops Research, 246, pp.1-11.  DOI: 10.1016/j.fcr.2019.107697
 
 
Reynolds, M.P., Trethowan, R., Crossa, J., Vargas, M. and Sayre, K.D. 2004. Erratum to ‘‘Physiological factors associated with genotype by environment interaction in wheat’’. Field Crops Research, 8, pp.253-274.  DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4290(03)00057-1
 
Salazar-Gutierrez, M., Johnson. J., Chaves-Cordoba, B. and Hoogenboom, G. 2013. Relationship of base temperature to development of winter wheat. International Journal of Plant Production, 7, pp.741-762. DOI: 10.22069/IJPP.2013.1267
 
 
Sarikhani Khorami, Sh., Tahmasebi, S., Salehi, P., Yassaei. M., Zali, H., Amini, A.A., Ghaedsharaf. F., Minoo, M.J. and Ghahari. Gh.R. 2021. Sowing date ranges for commercial varieties and elite bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) lines in three climates zones of Fars province. Final report. Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Seed and Plant Improvement Department. 102 pp. (in Persian).
 
 
Sharifi, H.R. 2016. Response of phenological development stages, grain yield and yield components of bread wheat cultivars with different growth habits to delayed planting. Seed and Plant Production Journal, 32, pp.21-44. (in Persian). DOI: 10.22092/SPPJ.2017.110577
 
 
Shirinzadeh, A., Heidari, Sharif Abad, H., Nourmohammadi, G., Majidi Haravan, E. and Madani, H. 2017. Effect of planting date on growth periods, yield, and yield components of some bread wheat cultivars in Parsabad Moghan. International Journal of Farming and Allied Sciences, 6(4), pp.109-119. Available online at www.ijfas.com.
 
 
Soughi, H., Khodarahmi, M. Bagherikia S. and Nazari, M. 2020. Response of grain yield of new bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars to sowing date based on agro-climatic indices under Gorgan environmental conditions. Seed and Plant Journal, 36(1), pp.1-31. (in Persian). DOI: 10.22092/sppi.2020.122874
 
 
Zhou, B., Sun, X., Ge, J., Li, C., Ding, Z., Ma, Sh., Ma, W. and Zhao, M. 2020. Wheat growth and grain yield responses to sowing date-associated variations in weather conditions. Agronomy Journal, 112(2), pp.985-997. DOI: 10.1002/agj2.20122
Seed and Plant Journal
Volume 39, Issue 3
September 2023
Pages 379-355

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics