Influence of drought during the grain filling period to the yield and quality of winter wheat (T. aestivum L.)

The stable yield is important for producers and breeders, and the constant grain quality for milling and baking industry. Drought is becoming more and more frequent in the Mediterranean region during the grain filling period. The aim of this work was to estimate drought tolerance of bread winter wheat genotypes through influence of water deficit on yield and quality. Twelve genotypes of winter wheat were grown under control and. drought conditions. The following traits were analysed: yield, thousand grain weight (TGW), test weight (TW), crude protein content (PC), Zeleny sedimentation volume (ZSV), wet gluten content (WGC), gluten index (Gl) and Hagberg failing number (HFN). Genotypes showed decrease of yield from 1.51 to 33.3% compared to the yield under control, while the PC increased for some genotypes 14.1% under drought conditions. Divana did not respond to drought; it had the lowest yield in both, control and drought (5.31 and 5.23 t/ha, respectively) and had the same PC (15.8 and 16.0%, respectively). Rennan showed decrease of yield under drought conditions (from 6.96 to 5.15 t/ha), but retained PC (13.9%). Banica, Kuna, Golubica and Zitarka showed decrease of yield, but increase of PC. Golubica and Kuna had the highest PC under drought conditions (16.2 and 15.9%, respectively). When influence of drought to the traits (average for all genotypes) was analysed, the following was determined: decrease of yield (1.6 t/ha), TGW (5.2 g), and GI (4.6%), but increase of PC (0.6%), TW (1.0 kg/hl), ZSV (1.2 ml), WGC (2.2%), and HFN (37 sec). Genotypes that have stable yield, high protein content and satisfying other quality parameters in water stress environment are suitable for safe production.