No abstract

Drought stress is one of the major constraints limiting the production and productivity of barley. We tried to identify some indicators related to plant productivity by analyzing some agro-morphological and physiological traits in recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Plants were exposed to three water treatments: well-watered at 70% available water content (AWC), mild drought stress at 35% AWC, and severe drought stress at 10% AWC. Our results revealed that drought significantly affected most of the studied morpho-physiological traits resulting in strong decreases in yield and the studied traits. We did not observe a significant difference in water-use efficiency between severe and mild drought conditions. Therefore, the mild stress treatment was considered as the most suitable water level in our study. Genotypes with the most tillers and spikes, the highest 1,000-grain mass, and biological yields achieved higher grain yields under all water stress conditions. Therefore, these traits could be considered as useful tools in breeding programs.

Chickpea production did not progress, in spite, of intensification of agricultural practices. Drought and thermal stresses were the major factors that decreased yield when the crop is generally sown in spring. Nevertheless, winter sowing has opened new opportunities for increasing chickpea production in arid areas. This culture is based on two essential factors: (i) preclude rainfall during the flowering and fruiting period (April/May) after a beneficial one in January and February for a good crop development and (ii) reducing the risk of infection by Ascochyta rabiei (considered as the main pathogen of chickpea) whose development is limited in arid area. The influence of temperature on seeds germination of the four varieties (Ghab4, Neyra, Kasseb and Chetoui) has been evaluated with seven temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35°C) and the effect of drought stress has been determined with seven water stresses induced by different solution of PEG 4000 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 g/L). During germination, the tested varieties presented differential sensitivity to thermal stress. The Chetoui and Ghab4 varieties were more tolerant, to cold temperature, than the other varieties. Osmotic potential induced by PEG 4000 had significant effects on seeds germination. Chetoui and Ghab4 were the best tolerant to drought stress. Therefore, we opted for the Chetoui variety that better meets the conditions of stresses induced by low temperatures and water deficit. This best performing variety must have, throughout their development cycle, been tolerant to environmental stresses; which allows us to obtain early tools for discriminative selection between chickpea genotypes.