Evaluation of drought tolerance in a world collection of Eruca sativa L. based on selection indices and some agronomic traits

Drought is the most destructive environmental limitation that jeopardizes agronomic production. Given the wide range of industrial and medicinal applications of arugula (Eruca sativa. L.), the present study evaluated the response of a world collection of 64 arugula genotypes to drought stress over a two-year study period (2019 and 2020) through selection indices and some agronomic traits. The main objective was to identify the best selection indices from Susceptibility Index (SSI), Yield Stability Index (YSI), Tolerance Index (TOL), Mean Productivity (MP), Geometric Mean Productivity (GMP), and Stress Tolerance Index (STI) that could be exploited in the genotypic selection of the crop's drought-tolerant cultivars. The highest values of STI, MP, and YSI were recorded for the genotypes G(58) and G(35) in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Generally, the superior genotypes for seed yield in 2019 were G(56) and G(58) while G(35) and G(55) proved so in 2020. It was concluded that these genotypes could be utilized as donor parents in drought tolerance in arugula.