Drought, one of the abiotic stresses, is the most significant factor restricting crop production in large agricultural fields of the world. Wheat is generally grown on arid-agricultural fields. Drought often causes serious problems in wheat production. Ten durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) genotypes were tested under rain-fed (T 0 ) and three irrigated treatments (T 1 = 50 mm at Booting stage, T 2 = 50 mm at Booting and 15 mm at heading stages and T 3 = 50 mm at Booting and 30 mm at heading stages) in semi-arid conditions of Eastern Algeria. Grain Yield, components of yield, heading evolution, leaf relative water content, leaf specific weight, grain filling rate and duration and chlorophyll content were measured. The irrigation treatments affect significantly all characters. Application of 50 mm of irrigation at booting stage increased significantly grain yield by 23%, compared to rain-fed treatment. Another supplementary irrigation of 15 or 30 mm, at heading, increased significantly grain yield by 45 and 61%, respectively. Stressed condition affects negatively thousand kernel weights (105%). In addition, combined analysis of variance showed high genetic variation for all parameters measured, excepted leaf relative water content and leaf specific weight, when measured at heading stage suggesting the possibility of selecting tolerant genotypes for drought tolerance under semi arid condition.

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In the semi-arid high plains of Algeria, water stress is one of the most significant factors restricting wheat production. This study aims at analyzing water stress effect on durum wheat behavior with a particular focus on relationships between some agronomical and physiological traits. Ten genotypes were tested under rain-fed and full-irrigated conditions in semi-arid climate of Eastern Algeria. The experiment was led down in a randomized complete block design at the experimental field of Natural and Life Sciences Faculty of Sétif1 University. Yield and its components, leaf relative water content, leaf specific weight, grain-filling rate and duration and leaf chlorophyll content were measured. Significant genotypic and environmental variations were observed for major measured traits. Water stress significantly decreased the potential yield by 28%. A significant and strong correlation was observed between agronomical and physiological characteristics. In both stress and non stress conditions, grain yield was positively and significantly associated with: Chlorophyll content (r = 0.893), relative water content (r = 0.956) and grain filling duration (r = 0.853).Wheat productivity was highly associated with high photosynthetic activities, good water status and long grain filling duration. This finding suggests using these traits as tools for screening durum wheat tolerance to water stress.