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Pot experiments were conducted in a heated greenhouse to study the effects of increasing doses of sewage sludge application on vegetables grown for leaves (lettuce, endive, spinach) and roots (radish, carrots, beets), and on some soil properties. Results showed that sewage sludge application increased or decreased soil pH in cases of lower or higher values respectively, increased soil organic matter, and increased soil concentrations in all mineral elements studied, except for manganese (Mn) and cobalt (Co). Cadmium (Cd) was not detected in soil-sewage sludge mixtures. After sewage sludge application, edible plant parts of leaf and root vegetables had increased copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations and decreased Mn concentrations, whereas iron (Fe) concentrations remained almost unchanged in the leaf vegetables Downloaded by [Cukurova Universitesi] at 07:23 04 November 2014 and were lower in the root vegetables. Cobalt, lead (Pb), and Cd were not detected in plant tissues. Increasing doses of sewage sludge resulted in higher dry matter yield of vegetable edible parts, with those grown for roots responding stronger. 1942TAMOUTSIDIS ET AL.

The objective was to explore, in lines derived from a bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, the association of grain yield with carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) and ash content (Ash) determined in both flag leaf and kernel. Divergent selection within the cv. Nestos, based on individual plant yield under very low density (11547 plants/ha), produced 20 lines. Progeny evaluation was conducted in two sites of Northern Hellas (Greece) at both low (11547 plants/ha) and high (5000000 plants/ha) density. The results showed significant differences between lines for grain yield, Δ and Ash. However, only the conclusions on grain yield were similar in low and high density, perhaps because the selection criterion under low density was grain yield. This, combined with the lack of any strong relationship of grain yield with either Δ or Ash, failed to confirm the usefulness of these physiological traits as indirect selection criteria, when the within-cultivar variation for grain yield is exploited. The possible association of grain yield with Δ and Ash appeared to be influenced by various factors such as drought, level of grain yield and altitude. Results also showed that less plant-to-plant variability, as expressed by the coefficients of variation (CV) of single-plant yields, was associated with decreased drought response and higher yield stability. The less stressed lines were those that used water more conservatively till anthesis and maintained a high photosynthetic rate during grain filling.

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