Evaluation of Drought Resistance Indicates for Yield and Its Components in Three Triticale Cultivars

Drought is a wide-spread problem seriously influencing cereal production and quality. The development of triticale cultivars which are tolerant to drought is an objective in many breeding programmes, but so far success has been limited. This study was carried to examine differences in yield and yield components and kernel features among triticale cultivars (Tatlicak 97, Karma 2000 and MIKHAM 2002) under drought stress. Three triticale cultivars with different yield performance were grown in separate experiments under the rain fed and irrigated conditions at Eskisehir, Turkey, in 2006-2007 growing season. In the study, susceptibility index (SSI), stress tolerance index (STI), tolerance (TOL), yield index (YI), yield stability index (YSI), mean productivity (MP) and geometric mean productivity (GMP) were calculated. The best yielding cultivar under the drought stress, hence having a low susceptibility index, was Karma 2000. This cultivar may be utilized for improvement of drought resistance in triticale breeding programmes.