Impact of drought stress on spring wheat grain yield and quality

Abstract

Drought stress (DS) at different growth stages of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) may affect its grain yield and end-use quality differently. The impact of drought stress at different growth stages on yield has been widely studied, but the impact on grain quality has not been thoroughly investigated. A 2-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of DS at different growth stages on end-use quality and grain yield in different spring wheat classes (soft white 'Alturas,' hard red 'Coho,' and hard white 'Dayn'). The treatments included DS (from tillering to stem elongation, booting to heading, and anthesis to soft dough) plus a fully irrigated (wellwatered) check. We found significant differences between the three wheat classes in most end-use quality parameters. Relative to the well-watered conditions, DS from tillering to stem elongation and from booting to heading did not affect grain yield and most end-use quality parameters. Flour protein, lactic acid and sucrose solvent retention capacities, and mixograph peak time were more impacted by post-anthesis DS. These changes in end-use quality were correlated and, thus, directly or indirectly affected baking performance. Our results indicate that reduced irrigation at early growth stages can maintain grain yield and end-use quality of spring wheat of different classes, for example, grain yield of 437 g m −2 and flour protein of 13.2-16.4 g kg −1 across different classes subject to DS at early growth stages compared to 379 g m −2 and 13.9-17.9 g kg −1 subject to post-anthesis DS.

Effects of exogenous melatonin on wheat quality under drought stress and rehydration

“…Starch and protein are the main components in wheat grain, the content of which determines the yield and quality of wheat (Yang et al, 2023). In addition, grain hardness, and other physical and chemical parameters also de ne wheat quality, such as grain moisture content, wet gluten content, sedimentation index, etc.…”

Yield improvement with antitranspirant application in droughted wheat associated with both reduced transpiration and reduced abscisic acid

“…This is because drought-tolerant genotypes have higher ABA catabolism (Ji et al, 2011). In drought sensitive genotypes, grain protein content can be significantly increased with negative rheological implications on bread wheat (Ozturk et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2023). Thus, there is evidence suggesting that ABA may be responsible for loss of crop yield and grain quality during drought (e.g., reproductive organ abortion in chickpeas [Pang et al, 2017], suppression of seed set in maize [Setter et al, 2001] and wheat [Bheemanahalli et al, 2020]).…”

Assessment of Spring Wheat Varieties for Pest Resistance

“…The development of pest-resistant varieties is the most effective way to protect crops by guaranteeing the environment`s stabilization and allowing a drastic reduction in pesticide use (Hýsek et al, 2019;Dam et al, 2020;Mustarin et al, 2021). According to a strategy of adaptive crop production and phytosanitary stabilization of agricultural landscapes, it is important to study the resistance of varieties to unregulated (weather, soil, and climatic conditions) and regulated environmental factors (agricultural practices in the cultivation process) (Jalli et al, 2021;Zholaman et al, 2022;Serrão et al, 2022;Yang et al, 2023;Hamid, 2023). There is no doubt that in order to overcome the influence of unregulated conditions, it is necessary to create varieties with high ecological plasticity and, in relation to regulated conditions, to study and find the best ways of increasing sustainability on the basis of appropriate agricultural techniques (Yang et al, 2014;Huang et al, 2014;Arif et al, 2022;Kosová et al, 2022).…”